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Goipght}l"__uiir^ 

COPYRIGHT DEPOSrr 



The Sunday-School 
Teacher's Manual 

Designed as an Aid to Teachers in 
Preparing Siinday-School Lessons 



Edited by 
THE REV. WILLIAM M. GROTON, S. T. D. 

COLLABORATORS: 

The Rev. Llellwyn N. Caley, B. D. 

The Rev. George Hodges, D.D., D. C. L. 

The Rev. Alford A. Butler, D.D. 

The Rt. Rev. A. C. A. Hall, D.D., LL. D. 

The Rev. Charles C. Edmunds, B. A., B. D. 

The Rev. Hosea W. Jones, D. D. 

The Rev. Lucien Moore Robinson, S. T. D. 

The Rev. Richard W. Micou, M. A., D.D. 

The Rt. Rev. Cameron Mann, D.D. 

The Rev. William Porcher DuBose, M. A., LL, D. 




PHILADELPHIA 

GEORGE W. JACOBS & COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 

1 ^ 'i 



LIBRARY of CONGRESS 
Two CoDies Received 

JAN 18 1909 

Copi^rifcrtt Entry _ 
djASS a? XXc, No, 






Copyright, 1909, by 

George C. Thomas 

Published January, igog 



All rights reserved by the Sunday-School 
Association of the Diocese of Pennsylvania 



PREFACE 

It is hoped that this Manual will meet the needs of 
the Sunday-school teacher. Its purpose is not only to 
furnish instruction in approved methods of preparing and 
teaching the lesson, but also to impart the information 
concerning the Scriptures and the Church, which often 
lies beyond his immediate reach. The various articles 
contained in it, have been reduced to as small a compass 
as the usefulness of the book will permit ; and it can 
readily be seen that it was no easy task to bring within 
the stipulated limits many of the subjects treated. 
Further, each author is responsible only for the matter 
contained in his own production. The books of reference 
have been carefully selected from a large number of 
valuable treatises and, as a rule, placed in the order of 
their helpfulness. The studious teacher will find these 
books useful in giving him that knowledge, which the 
requirement of brevity necessarily excluded from the 
Manual itself. 

The thanks of the Editor are given to the Sunday- 
school Committee of the Diocese of Pennsylvania for 
their sustained aid ; especially to the Rev. Llewellyn N. 
Caley, the Rev. Edgar Cope, and Prof. Joseph P. Reming- 
ton, who have been untiring in rendering assistance. 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

I. Principles and Methods of Sunday-School 

Teaching 9 

By the Rev. Llewellyn N. Caley, B. D. 

II. The Training of the Teacher . . .53 
By the Rev. George Hodges, D. D., D. C. L. 

III. The Old Testament . . . .71 

By the Rev. Alford A. Butler, D. D. 

IV. The Life of Our Lord Jesus Christ . 123 

By the Rt. Rev. A. C. A. Hall, D. D., LL. D. 

V. The New Testament . . . .165 

By the Rev. Charles C. Edmunds, B. A., B. D. 

VI. The History of the Church . . .201 
By the Rev. Hosea W. Jones, D. D. 



VII. A Brief Introduction to the History and 

Contents of the Book of Common 

Prayer 

By the Rev, Lucien Moore Robinson, S. T. D. 

VIII. The Creeds 

By the Rev. William M. Groton, S. T. D. 

IX. The Theology of the Catechism 

By the Rev. Richard W. Micou, M. A., D. D. 

X. Church Government 

By the Rt. Rev. Cameron Mann, D. D. 

XI. Christian Defense .... 

By the Rev. William Porcher DuBose, M.A., 
LL. D. 



227 
289 
299 

347 

365 



PRINCIPLES AND METHODS OF SUNDAY- 
SCHOOL TEACHING 

BY THE 

Rev. Llewellyn N. Caley, B. D. 



PRINCIPLES AND METHODS OF SUNDAY-SCHOOL 
TEACHING 

I. The Purpose of the Sunday-school 

« Go ye therefore and teach all nations." — St. Matt. 28 : ig. 

Twofold purpose of the Church. — The Church has 
two special duties set before her ; she is to preach and to 
teach. At the close of His marvellous ministry, Jesus 
Christ gave two commands : " Go ye into all the world 
and preach the Gospel to every creature " (St. Mark 
16 : 15) ; and " Go ye and teach all nations, teaching ^h^va 
to observe all things, whatsoever I have commanded you." 
The first duty of the Church is to evangelise, to bring 
people into the Church ; her second duty is to educate 
those brought into the Church, whether they are children 
or adults. These two must ever go side by side; we 
must preach and teach, we must evangelize and educate. 

There are two principal reasons why the Church should 
be interested in the work of religious education ; first, be- 
cause Christ commands it, saying, " Go ye and teach," 
and secondly, because the growth and strength of the 
Church depend upon it. The Church is to be the 
teacher of all committed to her care, whether they are 
members or not, whether they are old or young. This 
duty is partly fulfilled by divine service in church ; but 
the teaching of the younger people, and the more sys- 
tematic teaching of the older people, are committed to 
the Sunday-school, which is the Church's agent and rep- 
resentative in the realm of instruction. 

As there can be no instruction without instructors, and 
as the character of all teaching is determined very largely 



12 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHERS MANUAL 

by what the teacher believes to be its purpose, it is desir- 
able that the Sunday-school teacher should know some- 
thing of the history of the institution with which he is 
connected as a worker ; and should understand its princi- 
ples and purpose. 

Its history — The Sunday-school is not, as many sup- 
pose, a modern institution, but can be traced in its his- 
toric development for considerably over two thousand 
years. 

(i) Among the Jews.— When the Jews were in exile 
in Chaldea, being removed from the Temple at Jerusalem 
and its services, their rehgious thought was concentrated 
upon the Word of God, which led to its being studied as 
never before. From this study they learned that their 
punishment and exile were the result of their forsaking 
the worship of the Lord their God and disobedience to His 
laws, both of which were the outcome of their ignorance 
of His Word. This led to the establishing of synagogues 
by those who returned to the land of Palestine, under 
Ezra and Nehemiah, and by those who remained in 
Chaldea or by degrees were settled in the large cities of 
the Roman Empire. And in connection with these syna- 
gogues, which were established with the special purpose 
of giving instruction in the Word of God, were formed the 
synagogue Bible schools for the young, where from the 
age of six years children were taught the great truths of 
the Old Testament. To such a school our Lord doubt- 
less went when He was a child, and was instructed in 
those truths which made so deep and lasting an impres- 
sion upon His receptive mind. 

(2) In the Early Ohuroh.— These schools formed the 
foundation of the Sunday-school ; for when in the early 
Church Christianity superseded Judaism, the Sabbath- 
school of the Jews became the Sunday-school of the 
Christians, which provided for the religious instruction of 
the children of believers, and all others who could be 
brought under its care. In later years these developed 



PRINCIPLES AND METHODS I 3 

into the famous catechetical schools at Alexandria and 
elsewhere, which played so important a part in the 
spread of the Christian Church during the first three 
centuries. So long as these continued the Church was 
pure and victorious, but when in the fourth century, 
through the influence of Constantine the Great, Chris- 
tianity became the recognized religion of the Roman 
Empire, the Church began to rely more upon royal pat- 
ronage than religious education, so we do not hear so 
much of the schools of the Church ; then she became 
worldly and material, and the dark ages followed. During 
the Middle Ages, the Christian faith was strongest and 
life purest where the Bible-school idea was adhered to 
most closely as a means of rehgious instruction and 
training, as in the cathedral schools and the monastic in- 
stitutions. 

(3) During the Reformation.--In the time of the 
Reformation, Luther realized that if the work of the re- 
form movement was to be permanent, it was necessary to 
instruct the young in its principles, as he said, " For the 
Church's sake. Christian schools must be established and 
maintained, for God maintains the Church through the 
schools." Therefore, in the year 1530, he established 
what corresponds with Sunday-schools to-day. Then 
Charles Borromeo, the famous Archbishop of Milan, 
realising the tremendous importance of the religious edu- 
cation of the young, started a similar movement under 
the auspices of the Roman Church, in 1564. And the 
first great work of the Jesuits was the establishment of 
religious schools for the children upon more scientific 
methods, which largely enabled them to stop the progress 
of the Reformation. 

(4) In England.— In England the eighteenth century 
was marked by great spiritual deadness and gross igno- 
rance in religious things, largely caused, we are told, 
through neglecting to catechise the children on Sunday 
afternoons in church. To revive Christianity, especially 



14 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHERS MAN'UAL 

among the young, Robert Raikes, a churchman of Glou- 
cester, inaugurated in the year 1780, in connection with 
the cathedral there, what is known as the modern Sunday- 
school movement, which was the starting-point of a new 
period of life and hope to the Church of Christ, and 
through her to the world. 

(5) In the United States.— In the United States Sun- 
day-schools were introduced by the Church in Philadel- 
phia, early in the nineteenth century ; and it is not too 
much to say that America was saved to Christianity by 
the Sunday-school, for when it began its beneficent work, 
unbelief and error were becoming dominant in the land. 
These were stayed, and the young were gathered into the 
Church in large numbers ; and now about one-fifth of 
the population of the United States are members of 
Sunday-schools. 

Its principles. — From the study of the historic devel- 
opment of the Sunday-school we would therefore define 
it as being : (i) A department of the Church of God ; 
(2) in which the Word of God and the worship and work 
of the Church are taught ; (3) for the purpose of leading 
scholars to know Jesus Christ as their Saviour, Example, 
and Friend ; (4) to lead them to become loyal members 
and regular communicants of the Church, and (5) to train 
them to become faithful soldiers and servants of Christ 
until their lives end, in seeking to extend the kingdom of 
God at home and abroad. 

From this we learn : 

(i) That the Sunday-school, being a Department of 
the Church of God, is not a voluntary organisation but is 
responsible to and under the care and direction of the 
Church, from whom it should look for sympathetic super- 
vision, and for moral and financial support, and to whom 
it should be loyal in doctrine and worship. 

(2) That the Sundays-school is a School, and therefore 
an institution where knowledge is imparted by systematic 
instruction, and good character developed by definite 



PRINCIPLES AND METHODS 1 5 

training. For this purpose it is divided into depart- 
ments, which are subdivided into classes, each having its 
own teacher. 

(3) That it is a Su?i6:lqy-schoo\, and therefore an insti- 
tution where rehgious truths are taught, and where its 
services should be appropriate to the Lord's Day. The 
principal subject of study is the Bible ; its words should 
be stored in the memory, its history learned from the 
beginning to the end, its characters considered, its truths 
apphed to the daily life ; but chiefly should the revelation 
of the Lord Jesus, as our Saviour, Example, and Teacher, 
be carefully studied. So we should not think of the 
Sunday-school as" The Children's Church," for it is not 
intended in any way to take the place of the Church and 
her services, but rather to be one of the most prominent 
and useful departments of instruction within the Church, 
where adults as well as the young should gather to study 
the Word of God. The ideal relationship between the 
Church and the Sunday-school is for every member of 
the Church to attend Sunday-school for instruction, and 
for every member of the Sunday-school to attend church 
for worship. This should be our aim, and for this we 
should strive. 

(4) That as it is a Church Sunday-school it seeks to 
train the scholars in the doctrine, worship, history, gov- 
ernment, and missions of the Church ; and to lead them 
to become faithful members of, and earnest workers for, 
the Church. 

The purpose of the Sunday-school. — The purpose of 
the Sunday-school is therefore threefold ; it is to teach 
the scholars to know, to teach the scholars to be, and to 
teach the scholars to do. 

(i) To teach them to /^/^^ze^ the truths of the Bible and 
the Church as summed up in the Creeds and taught in 
Church history. One of the prominent objects of all 
teaching should be to awaken in our scholars a desire for 
knowledge, and a search after truth. 



1 6 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER's MANUAL 

(2) To teach them to be ; for one of the supreme 
purposes of all instruction, especially religious instruc- 
tion, is the formation of a good character. Professor 
Jowett, of Oxford University, was once asked what Ox- 
ford could teach a young man ; and he replied, " Oxford 
can teach a young man to be an English gentleman." 
And one of the highest aims of all Sunday-school teach- 
ing should be to teach the scholars to be Christian men 
and women, to pattern their lives after the perfect life of 
the Son of Man. 

(3) To teach them to do ; for another object of our 
instruction should be to develop Christian conduct, to 
train our scholars to live as Christian citizens, and to labour 
as Church workers. We must seek to inculcate a noble 
and lofty ideal of pure character and useful conduct for 
them to strive to attain. The vital need in the religious 
education of the young is not merely to inform the intel- 
lect, but to guide the emotions and to infuse the will with 
right motives ; it is not merely the training of the mind, 
but of the whole man. The State endeavours to instruct 
the intellect, so it is the special duty and privilege of the 
Sunday-school to direct the emotions and to discipline 
the will, which are the controUing factors in the moral 
and spiritual life. 

Thus we may briefly sum up the purpose of the Sun- 
day-school by saying that it is to teach the truths of the 
Christian Creed, to form Christian character, and to pro- 
duce Christian conduct. 

II. The Teacher's Qualifications 

«' Take heed to thyself, and to thy teaching." — / St. Tim. 4 : 16, R. V. 

The teacher's responsibility. — The purpose of the 
Sunday-school can be fulfilled only through the teaching, 
training and example of the Sunday-school teacher ; for 
the divine plan ever is to work not through institutions, 
but through human agencies. The good character and 



PRINCIPLES AND METHODS 1/ 

the qualifications of the Sunday-school teacher are there- 
fore necessary to the success of the Sunday-school ; for 
as is the teacher, so will be his teaching ; method and 
manner, upon which all instruction so largely depends, 
are the outcome of personality. Thus St. Paul writing 
to St. Timothy puts self first, saying, " Take heed to thy- 
self y and unto thy teaching," as if to emphasize the ne- 
cessity for the good character of the teacher; and he 
expressed the same to the elders of the Church of Ephesus 
when he said, " Take heed unto yourselves, and to all the 
flock " (Acts 20 : 28). Phillips Brooks wrote, ** Preach- 
ing has two essential elements, truth and personality ; the 
truth must come really through the person, not merely 
over his lips ; it must come through his character, his af- 
fections, his whole intellectual and moral being." So it 
must also be with teaching ; hence the vital importance 
of the personality of the teacher. Therefore the Sun- 
day-school teacher ought to be : — 

(i) A Christian.— That is, he should know in his own 
experience the truths he is to teach. As a blind man 
cannot teach colors, nor a deaf man music, so only those 
can impart spiritual truths who have received them, and 
know their value by experience. Every teacher is either 
a sign-post teacher, merely pointing out the way ; or a 
guide teacher, one who not only points out the way to 
others, but is also travelling it himself. And it is the 
guide teachers who are needed, for we can really teach 
only what we know ourselves. The supreme requisite is 
love for Jesus Christ as a personal Saviour and Master. 
Before He commissioned St. Peter to feed His lambs, He 
asked the all-important test question," Lovestthou Me?" 
And nothing but loving devotion to our Lord will make 
us as teachers faithful in our preparation, regular in our 
attendance, patient in our teaching, and holy in our life, 
as the essential quality of love is its willingness to make 
sacrifices and to deny self for the one loved. 

(2) A Communicant.— It is not enough for a teacher 



1 8 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER's MANUAL 

to be a follower of Jesus Christ ; he should also be a com- 
municant member of the Church, a faithful attendant, and 
regular at Holy Communion. For one of the chief ob- 
jects of his teaching should be to lead his scholars to be 
confirmed and to become faithful and loyal members of 
the Church ; and he cannot do this unless he is one him- 
self. We must practice what we preach, otherwise it will 
have but little effect. Moreover we need the spiritual 
strength and nourishment which come from faithful at- 
tendance at divine service and the Holy Eucharist ; for 
only those can teach who are taught, and only those can 
feed who are fed. 

(3) Consecrated to Christ and His Church.— And so 
to the work in which he is engaged. This will constrain 
us to be present and punctual every Sunday, no matter 
what the weather may be, unless prevented by sickness 
or death. By being punctual we mean five or ten min- 
utes before the school opens ; all our scholars will 
then have been spoken to, and everything will be in 
order when the service commences. We will kneel in 
prayer, sing the hymns, be reverential in our behaviour 
during the session, and do all we can to increase the effi- 
ciency and help forward the work of the school. If at 
any time we are unavoidably absent we will either pro- 
vide as a substitute some communicant of the Church, or 
give the rector or superintendent such timely notice that 
he can make suitable provision. We shall also be willing 
to deny ourselves for the sake of our scholars, and if 
necessary to abstain from doing things and going to 
places which may hinder or lessen our influence with 
them for good. Our Blessed Lord said with reference to 
His disciples, " For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they 
also may be sanctified " (St. John 17 : 19) ; and as Sun- 
day-school teachers we should be willing to sanctify our- 
selves for the sake of our scholars, and our love to Christ. 

This will lead us to be very careful in our daily 
behaviour, for we teach not only one hour a week 



PRINCIPLES AND METHODS 1 9 

on Sunday, but seven days a week; and our life is 
more powerful than our word, as •♦ example is better 
than precept " because it has much more continuous 
and therefore greater influence. As teachers we must 
be what we would have our scholars to become^ for 
truth incarnated in hfe is far more effective than truth 
taught by any other means, and our unconscious influence 
upon our scholars is very great. If therefore we would 
have our scholars to be right, and to do right, we our- 
selves must practice the righteousness that we teach 
them ; for we teach more by what we are than by what 
we know, and they will imitate the teacher's life rather 
than obey his words. If we would have the members of 
our class grow up to be earnest Christians, loyal church- 
men, and good citizens, we must set them the example, 
because power in teaching is bound up with the charac- 
ter of the teacher. It was the personality of Jesus Christ 
that made His teaching so powerful. 

(4) Prayerful.— We should pray for ourselves that we 
may be filled with the Holy Spirit, who is the Spirit of 
wisdom and knowledge, and the source of all success in 
spiritual service. "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask 
of God, that giveth to all men liberally, . . . and it 
shall be given him " (St. James i : 5). We should pray 
for our scholars ; this should be individually, for each 
member of the class by name, since their needs vary as 
their characters and conditions difler. We should pray 
for the lesson, both before and afterward, that God may 
help us to prepare it properly, and water the good seed 
sown, making it a real help and spiritual blessing to our 
scholars. Our Blessed Lord in this, as in everything else, 
sets us an example which we should do well to follow ; 
for when He had some important truth to teach, or work 
to do, He always prepared for it with much prayer. Noth- 
ing is more needed in our Sunday-schools than personal 
and corporate prayer by the teachers, as divine power is 
always given in answer to human prayer. 



20 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER S MANUAL 

(5) Patient.— There is perhaps no Christian service 
where the advice of the Apostle, " Ye have need of pa- 
tience " (Heb. 10 : 36), is more essential than in teaching 
in the Sunday-school ; for the patient teacher will deal 
tenderly with the doubts and difficulties of his scholars, 
knowing that when they are removed, their faith will be 
confirmed and their Christian character strengthened. 
How patient is the good fisherman ; and as " fishers of 
men " we must have the same quality if we would win 
our scholars for Christ and His Church. Moreover the 
scholars often are young, and being without the restraint 
of the public schools, are not as well behaved as they 
might be. Sometimes too the scholars live the whole 
week in an atmosphere where there is little or no religious 
instruction or even moral restraint ; they have therefore 
generally no desire to gain a knowledge of spiritual 
things, and are not interested in the Bible or the Prayer 
Book. 

Unfortunately also the schoolrooms are frequently not 
as well ventilated and the arrangements not as good as 
they ought to be ; moreover the classes are often over- 
crowded and too close together, which is not conducive 
to good order. Yet notwithstanding the drawbacks, 
much magnificent work has been accomplished through 
the Sunday-school, perhaps more than through any other 
agency of Church activity ; therefore let us keep on pa- 
tiently with our teaching, having the assurance that *• he 
that goeth forth and weepeth bearing precious seed, shall 
doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves 
with him" (Ps. 126:6). 

(6) Persevering.— -Teachers often feel inclined to give 
up their classes because they see so little result in their 
labour ; but if God has called us to the work we must 
persevere, knowing that " in due season we shall reap if 
we faint not " (Gal. 6 : 9). How frequently our Lord 
must have been disappointed during His ministry ; but 
He kept on to the end, and how blessedly successful His 



PRINCIPLES AND METHODS 21 

life-work was. And many a teacher, who at one time 
was greatly disappointed, has afterward been rewarded 
with splendid success. Let us remember the old saying, 
" If at first you don't succeed, try, try again ; " for the 
motto is true which tells us that ** perseverance conquers 
all things." 

(7) Sympathetic— VVe should try to feel with our 
scholars, to understand their natures, to discern what is 
going on in their minds. It is not enough that we feel 
for our scholars and seek to help them and do them 
good ; we ought also to possess that sympathy that feels 
with them, which makes allowances for their imperfectly 
developed natures, comprehends their characters and 
needs, and encourages them in their studies and their 
efforts to strengthen their characters. A teacher who is 
a true friend to his scholars, and manifests his confidence 
in them, is the best teacher, because he must win their 
affection if he would mould their characters. " Oh, Harry, 
you ought to be in our class ; our teacher knows such a 
lot," said a boy to his companion. " No, Charlie," re- 
plied Harry, " you ought to be in our class ; our teacher 
loves such a lot." The ideal teacher is the one who 
knows such a lot, and loves such a lot ; for love must at- 
tract before knowledge can instruct. 

(8) A student.— There are three subjects to which we 
should give special study ; what we are to teach, whom 
we are to teach, and how we are to teach. We ought to 
have as thorough a knowledge of the Bible as possible, 
also a general knowledge of the history of the Church 
and the Prayer Book ; we should have a knowledge of 
child-nature and the process of mind-growth on its 
broader lines ; and should understand the best methods 
of teaching. (We refer to these at greater length in 
other lessons.) These entail careful study ; but the more 
we know of these subjects the more interesting does their 
study become, and certainly the more effective our teach- 
ing. Moreover, intellectual equipment does not lessen 



22 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER S MANUAL 

our spiritual growth and fitness for Christian service, but 
increases both. God was able to use St. Paul on account 
of his learning and mental ability in special work for 
which the other disciples were not quahfied. The more 
we know, the more we are able to consecrate to God and 
His service; a Sunday-school teacher should therefore 
always be learning. 

(9) Sincere.— Whatever else we may or may not be 
we must be sincere in our desire to help and benefit our 
scholars, by whom any insincerity is quickly discerned ; 
and there is nothing which will hinder our influence for 
good, and nullify our efforts to teach the things pertain- 
ing to the kingdom of God, so quickly and effectively as 
its manifestation. And on the other hand, there is no 
teaching art that is so persuasive and effective as absolute 
candour ; for there is no quality that will win the confi- 
dence of our scholars so readily as a character that is 
thoroughly genuine. 

If we are asked by one of our scholars a question which 
we are not able to answer, we had much better frankly 
acknowledge our inability to do so, with the promise that 
we will look up the subject and answer it the following 
Sunday, than pretend to know what we do not ; for the 
scholar will appreciate our sincerity. 

Let us not be discouraged if we feel that we have not 
all these qualifications, for if we have the first three the 
others will naturally follow as a stream flows from its 
fountain head ; but we must seek to develop them. 

III. The Preparation of the Lesson 

" Thou that teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? " — Rom. 2 : 21, 

Importance of preparation. — With the exception of 
the possession of a good Christian character there is 
nothing more important in Sunday-school work than the 
preparation of the lesson, for we must know before we 
can teach. To be successful in any profession or 



PRINCIPLES AND METHODS 23 

business requires training and preparation, and none 
more so than teaching. There are four reasons why the 
Sunday-school teacher should prepare his lessons with 
especial care. Because of: — 

(i) The shortness of the time for teaching.— It is 
usually not more than thirty or forty minutes. Some 
teachers desire to have a longer time, but if we would re- 
tain our scholars as members of the school the lesson as 
a rule should last no longer than the time above men- 
tioned. To make the best use of that precious half- 
hour, which comes but once a week, we must know what 
and how to teach, and this requires thorough preparation. 

(2) The condition of the scholars.— Their attendance is 
voluntary, not compulsory as in the day-school, and the 
teacher also has not the authority possessed by the public- 
school teacher, who can compel the study and prepara- 
tion of the lesson by the scholar. In the Sunday-school 
the scholars come largely unprepared, and therefore the 
teacher needs to be all the more thoroughly prepared to 
make the lesson attractive, and so to impress its truths 
upon the members of the class. 

(3) The nature of the subjects taught.— If the day- 
school teacher prepares carefully to teach geography, 
history, and arithmetic, how much more carefully ought 
the Sunday-school teacher prepare to teach the truths 
concerning the nature of God and His relation to man, 
concerning sin and its awful consequences, concerning 
the greatness and glory of divine salvation, and con- 
cerning the grandeur of Christian service, — truths which 
are of such infinite importance to the scholars. 

(4) The dignity of the work.— As Sunday-school 
teachers we are training our scholars, whether old or 
young, for the Hfe that now is and also for the endless Hfe 
that is to come; seeking to make them good. citizens, and 
Church-members and workers here, and to fit them for 
companionship with God and the redeemed in heaven. 
As no nobler or more widely-beneficent service was ever 



24 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHERS MANUAL 

committed to man, surely we ought to prepare very care- 
fully so as to make our instruction as effective as possible. 

How great therefore is the responsibiHty resting upon 
us as Sunday-school teachers to be as well equipped and 
thoroughly prepared as we can for the splendid oppor- 
tunity given to us. 

One of the first essentials. — One of the first essentials to 
bear in mind in the preparation of any lesson is those for 
whom it is being prepared, as instruction must be suited 
to the need of the scholars ; for we prepare not merely 
to teach a lesson, but to teach it to scholars, and the mind 
of the scholar determines the method of the teacher, as we 
can teach only what the scholar can understand. 

This is perhaps where most of us make our greatest er- 
rors ; we are so much engaged in teaching lessons that we 
are apt to forget the scholars and their ability or non- 
ability to learn what we are seeking to teach. 

As the body grows and the physical faculties develop, 
so also does the mind grow and the mental faculties 
develop ; as St. Paul said, " When I was a child, I spake 
as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child, 
but when I became a man I put away childish things " 
(i Cor. 13: II). And as food given to children to nour- 
ish their bodies differs from that given to adults, so we 
must provide lessons of a character suited to the mental 
capacity of our scholars. Therefore to be successful 
teachers we must have a knowledge of child-nature and 
child-nurture, of the physical growth and the intellectual 
development of our scholars. 

Nevertheless a knowledge of psychology, though very 
useful, is not sufficient, for the individual members of the 
class are different from one another ; and we should be 
acquainted as far as possible with the peculiar character- 
istics of our scholars if we would teach them effectively. 
As the doctor has to diagnose the disease before he can 
prescribe the right remedy, so the teacher must know the 
special needs of his scholars in order that he may give 



PRINCIPLES AND METHODS 2$ 

the right instruction and training ; for some are bright 
and others dull, some are well informed and others igno- 
rant, some have received good home training and some 
have had no moral or religious instruction. 

We must therefore in our preparation consider the age 
of our scholars, and their mental, moral, social, and 
spiritual conditions. Many a teacher with splendid quali- 
fications for teaching, and who prepares carefully, is 
nevertheless a failure because he has no knowledge of, or 
does not consider, the mental capabilities of his scholars, 
and therefore fails to adapt his teaching to their ability to 
learn. 

Preparation. — All preparation should be accurate and 
abundant. It should be accurate with reference to the 
special lesson to be taught ; all information with regard to 
that should be as precise and complete as we can obtain. 
We must master the subject in detail if we would teach it 
well. One reason why Jesus Christ was supremely great 
as a teacher was because He knew thoroughly the lessons 
He taught. It should also be abundant ; " Sufficient unto 
the day is the lesson thereof " is a bad motto for a teacher, 
for to be successful he should know a great deal more 
about the Bible, the Prayer Book, and general sacred and 
secular history than that covered by the lesson for the day, 
because there is no telling what questions the scholars 
will ask ; and a teacher if he desires to win the confidence 
of his class ought to be ready to answer as many ques- 
tions as possible. The scholars will not long respect as 
teacher one who does not know much more than them- 
selves, and will very quickly find it out. 

The best way to begin to prepare any lesson is to read 
the " Scripture Lesson " through three or four times care- 
fully and prayerfully, so as to be thoroughly familiar with 
the incident and its details as recorded in the Bible. Then 
we should so study the lesson helps and other means of 
information as to be able to answer five questions con- 
cerning the lesson in order to teach it intelligently. 



26 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER's MANUAL 

(1) "Where ? Or the geography of the lesson ; for it 
makes considerable difference in describing the scene of 
the lesson whether it is located in Egypt, the wilderness 
of Sinai, Babylonia, Palestine, Asia Minor, or Rome. 
Therefore we should study the lesson with the map of the 
country or the city in which it is situated, find the places 
mentioned, and become conversant with its peculiar char- 
acteristics. 

(2) When ? Or the history of the period ; for the his- 
torical setting, greatly affects our description of the 
events contained in the lesson, as the manners, customs, 
and dress of the people vary considerably between the age 
of the Patriarchs, the Kings, the Exile, and the time of 
our Lord. And concerning these w^e should learn as 
much as we can so as to make our narrative accurate and 
interesting. 

(3) "Who? Or the principal persons mentioned in the 
lesson, with a knowledge of their position and office, their 
character and career. The characters of the Bible are so 
varied, and many of them so splendid and strong, that we 
ought to study them carefully, and so become familiar 
with their prominent qualities, especially those mentioned 
in the lesson. 

(4) "What 9 Or the various incidents recorded in the 
lesson in their historic order, or the special truths taught 
if the lesson be ethical ; what the persons of whom we 
have just spoken did or said. The incidents we should 
try to picture to ourselves with all their local colouring 
and movement, so as to be able to describe them accu- 
rately and thus make them real to the scholars. 

(5) "Why? Or the purpose for which the lesson was 
chosen, and the special truths which it is designed to 
teach. This is most important, for the impartation of the 
other aspects of the lesson would teach geography, his- 
tory, and biography ; but they would fail to teach religion, 
or to mould the characters of the scholars, which is the 
supreme purpose of all Sunday-school teaching. 



PRINCIPLES AND METHODS 2/ 

If we are able to answer these five questions intelli- 
gently, we shall have a clear mental vision of the lesson. 
The Old Testament prophets are often spoken of as 
" seers," and we must see the lesson mentally if we would 
teach it in an interesting and a telling manner. One of 
the master arts n\ teaching is this power of seeing our 
lessons, and of picturing to our class what we see. ''Behold, 
a sower went forth to sow ; " " Consider the lilies of the 
field," is the way the Great Teacher taught. This mental 
grasp of the scenes of the lesson will also obviate taking 
the lesson book into the class, which is most unwise, and 
is often an evidence of a lesson not thoroughly prepared. 
A brief outline or a few key words are permissible, how- 
ever, in case of interruptions. 

How — Having thought of whom we are to teach, and 
what we are to teach, we must also consider how we are to 
teach ; for the method of teaching is as important as the 
matter we teach. In fact, in the process of actual in- 
struction, that which is learned by the scholar is the re- 
sult of the method of teaching. The latter therefore 
demands the teacher's most careful consideration ; for it 
has been truly said that, " when the thought of matter is 
uppermost, talking is in the ascendant ; when attention is 
given to method, good teaching is more likely to follow." 
Method includes the arrangement of the material of the 
lesson, with its treatment, and the manner of the teacher ; 
and these must vary according to the character and con- 
dition of the teacher and the scholars, and the circum- 
stances of the occasion. (We refer to this more fully 
in the next lesson.) 

Careful and thorough preparation has the added great 
advantage of giving confidence to the teacher, and enables 
him to teach with ease. Only when we have prepared 
the lesson well can we feel that we have any right to ask 
God to bless our efforts, and without His blessing they 
will be vain. It is significant how many years Christ 
spent in preparation for His ministry ; ten or twelve years 



28 THE SUxXDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER's MANUAL 

of preparation for three or four years of teaching. He 
understood what most of us need to learn ; — that our 
preparation must be slow if our service is to be efficient. 
Our Lord taught with power (St. Luke 4 : 32) because He 
was thoroughly prepared to teach. 

Besides our preparation of the lesson we should try 
to get the scholars to study it before they come to 
school ; they will enjoy the teaching of the lesson much 
more if they know something about it, and be much more 
ready to learn both by the greater attention they will 
give, and by the questions they will ask. For all really 
successful instruction there must be this double prepara- 
tion ; the preparation in the mind of the teacher, and 
the preparation in the minds of the class. 

The truth we desire especially to emphasise is that the 
success of the Sunday-school depends upon the teachers. 
We may have a well-equipped building, we may have a 
well-organised school, we may have a good course of in- 
struction, but without good, efficient teachers we cannot 
have real success ; hence the supreme importance of the 
teacher's qualifications and preparation. 

IV. THE Teaching of the Lesson 

" Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth 
not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth." — 2 St. Tim. 2 : zj". 

How to teach. — Having prepared the lesson carefully, 
now we want to learn the best way to present it, to teach 
it ; for there are certain laws of teaching which we must 
know in order to be successful in our work. As he 
who would obtain harvests must obey the physical laws 
of nature regarding the harvest, so he who would teach 
successfully must follow the laws of teaching, which are 
the laws of mental nature ; for nowhere in the world of 
mind or matter can we secure the desired effects unless 
we employ the means by which alone they can be pro- 
duced. And it is well worth while to study these laws, 



PRINCIPLES AND METHODS 29 

for the true worker's love for his work grows with his 
abihty to do it well, and enthusiasm will accomplish more 
when guided by skill. There are three aspects of this 
important subject which we should consider. 

(i) "What is teaching ?— It is not telling, though that 
is included; but teUing is not teaching, for no one is 
taught until he learns. Neither is hearing the recitation 
of the Collect, Catechism, or Bible text teaching, unless 
the teacher causes the scholar to understand the mean- 
ing of, and to grasp the idea or truth conveyed by, the 
words he recites. 

Teaching is causing another to know something he did 
not know ; it is the impartation, or communication, of 
knowledge by the teacher to the learner. So the first 
requisite is a knowledge by the teacher of that which he 
would teach ; but the second requisite, and equally im- 
portant, is that the scholar should think for himself, and so 
learn. True teaching is that which not merely gives 
knowledge, but that which leads the scholar to gain it ; 
for as the eye must do its own seeing, and the ear its own 
hearing, so the mind must do its own learning. 

We must ever bear in mind that nothing is really 
taught by the teacher unless it is learned by the scholar; 
that there must be co-work by the scholar with the 
teacher in the acquirement of knowledge ; that as knowl- 
edge cannot be passed from mind to mind like apples 
from one basket to another, the important factor in all 
teaching is to win the active cooperation of the learner. 
Teaching therefore implies three things : [a) A teacher 
who knows and seeks to impart that knowledge ; (<^) a 
scholar who does not know, but learns ; (^) and a lesson 
which is taught by the teacher and learned by the 
scholar. 

This, however, does not fully define the work of the 
Sunday-school teacher, for his aim, as we have seen, is to 
teach his scholars to be, and to do, as well as to know ; 
to train their lives as well as to teach them lessons. The 



30 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHERS MANUAL 

impartation of knowledge, even religious knowledge, is 
not sufficient ; for there are plenty of people who know the 
right, but do the wrong. Therefore in his teaching he 
will endeavour to develop a strong Christian character to 
be manifested in a life of purity and usefulness. Just as 
a sculptor has his idea clearly in his mind before he be- 
gins to carve the statue from the block of marble, and so 
directs his strokes with skill to realize his mental image ; 
so the Sunday-school teacher should have the ideal of the 
Christlike life which he seeks to reproduce, and a knowl- 
edge of God and His truth which he endeavours to impart, 
clearly before him as the object of his work, and so con- 
centrate all his efforts upon their realisation. 

(2) Preparatory to teaching the lesson.— Preparatory 
to teaching the lesson, we should be sure that all the mem- 
bers of our class are in front of us, where we can see 
them ; because we can attract their attention much better 
when we can keep our eye upon them, for the eye is the 
great controlling power ; and because otherwise those 
who are behind, or partly behind, are likely to get up to 
some mischief which will divert the attention of the other 
scholars. In the matter of keeping order, ♦* an ounce of 
prevention is better than a pound of cure." 

We should also explain the long and unusual words in 
the Scripture lesson ; for instance, " hallowed," " passion," 
•' Gospel," are words with which we are perfectly familiar, 
but which many of our scholars do not understand. Ex- 
pressions which are very simple to the teacher are often 
misleading to the younger scholars, such as the men- 
tion of CorneHus being a member of the Italian band 
(Acts 10: i), which some have thought refers to a band 
of music; while another scholar confounded his soul, of 
which the teacher was speaking, with the sole of his foot. 
We must try to place ourselves in the position of our 
scholars, look at things through their spectacles, and use 
words to which they are accustomed. 

(3) Teaching the lesson itself.— In the teaching of the 



PRINCIPLES AND METHODS 3I 

lesson itself, there are six factors which should be borne in 
mind, as each should form a part of most well-taught 
lessons. 

(a) The opening. — The first essential in teaching any 
lesson is to gain the attention of the scholars, because it is 
impossible to teach them while they are inattentive. And 
the lack of attention is one of the principal causes of much 
of the failure in Sunday-school work ; for we cannot pour 
knowledge into a mind like water into a cistern. 

The only way to gain the attention of our scholars is 
to interest them ; and the only way to interest them is to 
speak of something with which they are familiar, some- 
thing on the plane of their experience, which is called 
" the point of contact," and to pass from the known to 
the unknown. It has been truly said that the mind is 
like a social club, no new idea being admitted unless 
introduced by a member. When we were young we 
were told that if we wanted to catch sparrows we must 
put some salt on their tails ; and doubtless many of us 
with a pinch of salt in our hand used to try to put some 
on their tails, but we never succeeded. What was needed 
was a point of contact. And this is the initial difficulty 
with many lessons ; the restless sparrows in our classes 
are not caught because there is no point of contact, no 
idea with which they are familiar, to interest them and so 
to gain their attention. 

We must ever remember that past experiences and im- 
pressions are like windows of the mind through which 
alone it looks out upon all that is new, and that truth to 
be taught can be learned only through truth already 
known. As the boy said that what he liked most in the 
lesson was " the likes,** referring to the illustrations which 
the teacher used to explain some truth ; as our Lord so 
constantly likened the kingdom of heaven to something 
with which His hearers were quite familiar, and so ex- 
plained the unknown by the known (St. Matt. 1 3). 

You remember that when Jesus Christ, the Master 



32 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHERS MANUAL 

Teacher, wanted to gain the attention of the woman of 
Samaria at Sychar, He did so by first speaking of that 
which interested her, the water she had come to draw, say- 
ing, " Give Me to drink ; " and then, passing from the 
known to the unknown, He led the woman on until He 
taught her that God is a Spirit, and revealed Himself to 
her as the Christ. St. Paul used the same means at 
Athens when he preached on Mars Hill; for he began 
by speaking about the " Altar to the Unknown God," 
which he had seen in the streets of the city, and with 
which all of his hearers were famiUar. From that as a 
point of contact, he went on to speak to the Athenians 
of the God who made the world, and who commanded all 
men to repent because they would be judged by Jesus 
Christ, whom He had raised from the dead (Acts 
17:23-31). 

{p) The connection with the previous lesson. — It is 
well briefly to review the lesson of the previous Sunday 
so as to get the connection between the two. This has 
also the added advantage of refreshing the memories of 
the scholars with reference both to the incidents of the 
last lesson and the truths it taught. No time in teaching 
is spent more profitably than that spent in reviewing ; for 
the lesson that is studied but once is often forgotten; while 
that which is thoroughly reviewed becomes part of our 
permanent knowledge. A Jesuit motto, which says, 
" Repetition is the mother of instruction," conveys an 
important truth of which we need to make more use. It 
is well to get the scholars to do this in turn. But if we 
are going to. keep the attention of our scholars we must 
pass on to something new ; for as has been well said, " in 
every lesson there must be something old to use as a 
foundation, and something new to build upon it." So we 
pass on to : — 

(c) The lesson story. — This should be told as far as 
possible in the form of a narrative ; we should seek to 
describe the scenes and incidents of the lesson so graphic- 



PRINCIPLES AND METHODS 33 

ally that they may appear pictorially in the minds of the 
scholars. If we have prepared the lesson thoroughly, and 
see it clearly with our mental vision, and are familiar with 
the characters of the persons, their dress, movements and 
environment, this can easily be done. All children, even 
those of an older growth, are interested in stories, and will 
always listen to a story well told. The Bible has largely 
made its way to the hearts of the people through its 
stories. Our Lord was a great master of narrative, and 
we would do well to study His method, for the story of 
the Prodigal Son is the model story of all literature. The 
art of story-telling consists in reproducing its scenes to 
the eye through the ear. We must be careful always to 
use such language as our scholars can understand. " Bless 
the Lord," said a farmer who had Hstened to a good ser- 
mon expressed in simple language, " the preacher put the 
hay in a low rack to-day so that the sheep could get it ; " 
to hear some men preach you would think the Lord had 
said, " Feed My giraffes." A word to the wise is suffi- 
cient. 

{d) The truths to be taught. — This is the most impor- 
tant factor in the lesson, for it is the whole purpose of 
the lesson, and must therefore never be forgotten or 
neglected. These truths should not, however, be taught 
after the lesson story is told as if they were additions to 
the lesson ; but should be woven into the narration of the 
lesson, for then the scholars imbibe the truths almost un- 
consciously. They may be referred to again at the close 
of the lesson to impress them upon the minds of the 
members of the class ; this it is advisable to do by the 
use of questions. Such spiritual truths must also be 
adapted to the mental capacity and spiritual condition of 
the scholars, for the best preparation will be useless un- 
less the teaching is adapted to those who are taught. 

(e) Illustrate the lesson, — In order to fix the truths to 
be learned in the minds of the scholars, it is well to 
illustrate them by a picture, map, model, or blackboard ; 



34 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHERS MANUAL 

for scholars are glad to use their eyes as well as their 
ears, and remember what they see much better than what 
they hear. If, therefore, we can reach them through eye- 
gate as well as ear-gate, we have made a double and more 
lasting impression. We may also relate some anecdote 
or incident from nature or history, for these attract the 
attention of the scholars, retain their interest, and impress 
upon their memories the truths inculcated by the lesson. 
They are therefore very useful, but should be carefully 
chosen, for it must be borne in mind that the anecdotes 
are to illustrate, that is, to •* light up," " to make lumi- 
nous," as the word means, the truths taught by the lesson, 
and that the lesson is not to be merely an excuse for 
teUing stories. 

To relate anecdotes well requires practice, but they 
are worth it, for when well told they are very effect- 
ive. To be able to tell a story well we must know it, 
for we can relate fluently only that with which we are 
familiar ; we must see it if we are to make others see it ; 
and we must feel it, for if it is to touch others it must 
first have touched us. A splendid example of the use of 
illustrations is found in the wonderful story of the Good 
Samaritan, which Jesus Christ told in answer to the ques- 
tion of the lawyer, ** Who is my neighbour?" (St. Luke 
10:29-37). A wise teacher is always on the lookout 
for good illustrations, and will keep a list of them. The 
best are those which are found in the Bible, in nature, in 
history, or in our every-day life. It is well for them to 
be up to date, both because of the increased interest at- 
taching to current events, and because of the increased 
respect the scholars have for a well informed teacher. 

(/) The application of the lesson. — Besides the teach- 
ing and the illustrating of the lesson, we must not for- 
get the application of it to the daily life of the mem- 
bers of the class. To do this well necessitates a knowl- 
edge of the home, business, friends, and social Hfe of the 
scholars ; and this can be obtained only by visiting them 



PRINCIPLES AND METHODS 35 

in their homes, and by being early at school each Sunday 
and talking to them about their business, friends, and 
interests before the session opens. The teacher who 
knows the circumstances of the members of his class will 
find something in each lesson adapted to the special need 
of some of them. 

While these six factors are necessary to the proper 
teaching of most lessons, yet they need not be borne in 
mind during the teaching, otherwise they are likely to 
interfere with the easy flow of the lesson. Neither should 
they be emphasised separately and in order, but should 
form integral parts of one harmonious whole. For in- 
stance, the application should be made as the lesson pro- 
ceeds ; in fact, no lesson is well taught that does not 
unconsciously impress upon the scholars as the lesson 
progresses the truth which it is intended to impart. 
Moreover, all routine plans should be avoided, as the 
very best will become monotonous if always used. As 
wise teachers we should endeavour to vary our methods 
of teaching lest they become mechanical. 

The skill of a good teacher is manifested in his power 
to secure and retain the attention of his scholars ; and in 
order to retain it during the teaching of the lesson we 
must remember that the young will give steady atten- 
tion for not more than a few minutes to one thing, and 
that the older scholars require a change of thought to 
keep them interested. 

It is well to close the lesson with a concise summary 
of its leading incidents and principal truths, with an ap- 
propriate illustration, or with a practical application, 
which will leave such an impression upon the minds of 
the scholars that it shall find expression in their daily 
lives. 

Elements of successful teaching. — There are, there- 
fore, five elements essential to the successful teaching of 
any lesson : {a) A knowledge by the teacher of that 
which he would teach ; (^) a knowledge by the teacher 



36 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER's MANUAL 

of whom he would teach ; (<r) a knowledge by the 
teacher of how to teach the scholar that which he de- 
sires to know ; (d) a language used by the teacher which 
is understood by the scholar, and [e) co-work by the 
scholar in learning that which the teacher endeavours to 
teach him. 

V. The Art of Questioning 

"Meet for the Master's use, and prepared unto every good work." — 
2 St. Tim. 2 : 21. 

Advantages. — Besides the lecture method, another 
most useful means of instruction is by the right use of 
questions. This method is so important and valuable 
that an experienced educator has said that •• the success 
and efficiency of our teaching depend more on the skill 
and judgment with which we put questions, than on any 
other single circumstance." The special advantages of 
this method are threefold. 

(i) It reveals the amount of information possessed 
by the scholars. — It also discovers their misconceptions 
and difficulties, which will be recognised in no other way. 
It therefore leads to more intelligent teaching by the 
teacher, and often to more studying and careful atten- 
tion on the part of the scholars, who are likely to take 
more pains in receiving and remembering a lesson if they 
know their memory is to be tested. 

(2) "Wise questioning adds interest to the teaching of 
the lesson.— Many teachers talk too much, and do not 
question sufficiently. We need to remember that it is 
not enough for us to give a good lesson, for its real value 
depends upon how much is received by the scholars ; and 
one of the chief benefits of questions is that their answers 
impress the facts or truths of the lesson upon the minds 
of the scholars, for we remember much better what we 
tell others than what others tell us. 

(3) It sho-ws -what the scholars have learned.— It is 
well also at the end of each lesson to find out by thorough 



PRINCIPLES AND METHODS 37 

interrogation how much the scholars have learned of the 
leading facts and principal truths taught by the lesson ; 
this is an advantage to the teacher as well as to the 
scholars, for it tests the efficiency of his teaching. But 
he should never ask questions to expose the ignorance 
of, or to confuse the scholars ; and if they answer the 
questions only partly correctly he should not discourage 
them, otherwise they will hesitate to make any reply next 
time. 

The question method, therefore, besides reveahng the 
knowledge or the ignorance of the scholars, serves the 
double purpose of giving instruction in the course of the 
lesson, and of examining or testing the scholars after the 
lesson is finished. Some teachers seem to think that 
the latter is the only use of questioning ; but it is as a 
means of impressing truth upon the mind that it possesses 
its highest value. 

Helpful rules. — To question well is an art which is 
gained only by practice ; there are, however, a few rules 
which will be found helpful. The questions should be : — 

(i) Simple.— That is, they should be phrased in such 
a manner that the scholars will at once grasp their mean- 
ing ; for scholars often hesitate to answer, not because 
they do not know the answer, but because they have not 
understood the question. It is advisable, therefore, not 
to use the words of Holy Scripture in the questions 
asked, but the ordinary language of every-day life ; for 
the scholars often do not grasp the meaning of the 
phraseology of the Bible. 

(2) Short.— So that the scholars can easily remember 
them ; for if they are long and complicated they will for- 
get them. It is much better to ask two or three short 
questions than one long one. Study the questions of the 
Great Teacher, who has been called '* The Ideal Ques- 
tioner," and see how clear, concise and comprehensive 
they are (cf. St. Matt. 5 : 46-47 ; 22 : 42 ; St. Mark 
8:36-37). 



38 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER's MANUAL 

(3) Systematic— Arranged to follow one another in 
the order of natural sequence, each having a logical con- 
nection with the one which preceded it ; because much 
of the value of the interrogation method is lost by an 
unconnected set of questions. The Catechism, especially 
the latter part, is a good example of the merit of system 
and continuity in instruction by questions. We should 
so ask questions that the answers by the scholars will 
form an orderly and a complete summary of the lesson. 

(4) Spontaneous.— That is, they should be our own, 
not read from a printed lesson leaflet, or from a written 
list, but growing spontaneously out of our own minds, 
and adapted to the circumstances of the occasion. For 
one of the first requisites of all good teaching is that the 
mind of the teacher should come into actual contact 
with the minds of the taught ; nevertheless, the questions 
to be asked should be thought of carefully in the prep- 
aration of the lesson, and, if desirable, a list made of 
them. 

(5) Bright.— For a good deal of success in question- 
ing depends upon the manner in which they are asked. 
If questions are asked in a dull, prosy, uninteresting way, 
they will meet with very little response. All questions 
should be asked in a fresh, spirited and attractive manner, 
so as to secure the attention and active cooperation of 
the scholars. 

(6) Individual.— It is better not to ask them of the 
class as a whole, to be answered by a few well-informed, 
or forward scholars, while the remainder of the scholars 
are silent. Each question should be addressed directly 
to some member of the class, yet not in ordinary rotation, 
as that enables them to calculate when their turn will 
come, and so to pay no heed to many of the questions, 
while the other plan keeps them all alert. Neither should 
the scholar who is expected to answer be named until 
the question is asked, as that is likely to lead to inatten- 
tion on the part of other members of the class. No one 



PRINCIPLES AND METHODS 39 

should know that the question is not to be for him until 
it is finished and some one is requested to reply. 

(7) Carefully begun.— In questions to test the knowl- 
edge of our scholars we should avoid asking such ques- 
tions as call only for assent or dissent in answer. In 
order to do this we should begin all questions with words 
commencing with the letters " wh," such as the words 
" when ? " " where ? " *' who ? " " which ? " " what ? " 
" why ? " or with the word " how ? " because the answer 
" yes," or " no " cannot be given to questions thus 
framed, and the answering of them always leads to 
thought, which should be the object of every question. 
Study the questions of Jesus Christ in this light, and see 
how all of them lead to earnest thought (cf. St. Matt. 
i6 : 13, 15 ; 22 : 42 ; St. Mark 8 : 27, 29, 36, 37). In the 
appHcation of the lesson it may be wise sometimes to ask 
questions to which only answers of assent or dissent could 
be given. 

Encourage scholars to ask questions. — We should also 
encourage our scholars to ask us questions with reference 
to the difficulties and doubts which are in their minds, or 
concerning the points in the lesson which are not clear 
to them ; for the learner's questions are often more im- 
portant than the teacher's, as they reveal the state of the 
scholar's mind, and show the teacher the character of in- 
struction needed. A good teacher will never consider 
such questions tiresome or out of place, but will welcome 
them and all the trouble they may bring, as being proofs 
that the scholars are really interested and at work. It is 
interesting to remember that the only glimpse we have 
of the education of Jesus in His boyhood is in the scene 
in the Temple, where He stayed behind for three days 
with the doctors, " both hearing them, and asking them 
questions " (St. Luke 2 : 46). He knew that the secret 
of learning is to ask questions of those who are able to 
teach. 

Socrates, the famous Greek teacher, was the first to 



40 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHERS MANUAL 

make great use of the interrogation method of instruc- 
tion, and he is often held up to us as an ideal instructor. 
While Jesus Christ, the Master Teacher, made use of that 
method of teaching, yet there is a great difference be- 
tween His method of instruction and the Socratic method ; 
for Socrates asked questions which his disciples tried to 
answer, whereas our Lord made His teaching so inter- 
esting that His disciples asked Him questions, which He 
was always ready to answer (cf. St. Matt. 13: 10, 36; 
24 : 3 ; St. Luke 10 : 25, 29). 

This should ever be one of the immediate aims of our 
teaching ; for the teacher has done but little unless he 
awakens the mind of the scholar to independent activity. 
As long as his mind is merely passive, receiving what is 
poured into it but doing nothing more, true education 
has not commenced. Let us be careful therefore never 
to discourage scholars from asking questions, no matter 
how simple they may be, for if so they will not ask 
others ; and the asking of questions by the scholars to be 
answered by a well-informed teacher is the most effective 
means of instruction. 

VI. Jesus Christ, the Ideal Teacher 

«' Never man spake like this man." — SL John 7 / 4b. 

The Ideal Teacher of humanity is Jesus Christ ; the 
officers of the Temple at Jerusalem expressed the verdict 
of the ages when they declared, " Never man spake like 
this man." The best training therefore for every Sunday- 
school teacher is to study His perfect example, and as we 
consider this most interesting and instructive subject to 
notice the motive, the method, and the manner of His 
teaching. 

The motive. — The motive of Christ's teaching was two- 
fold ; love to God, and love to man, especially His dis- 
ciples, those whom He taught and trained. The desire 
to please His Father, God, whom He loved with an in- 



PRINCIPLES AND METHODS 4 1 

tense devotion, and to extend His kingdom among men 
was the dominant and controlling factor of all His actions 
and sayings ; " I do always those things that please 
Him " (St. John 8 : 29), was the motto of His life. And 
how deep, and true, and all-prevailing was His love for 
His followers, a love manifested in all His dealings with 
them, a love which produced constant self-denial, and 
which reached its climax at Gethsemane and Calvary. 

The great incentive for our work in the Sunday-school 
should be a sense of love and gratitude to God for all His 
many mercies to us, and also a real affection for our 
scholars as those for whom the Saviour died, whom God 
desires to redeem with His eternal salvation, and whom 
we long to see leading good Christian lives. 

The method. — In the method of His teaching there 
were five prominent quahties, which we should do well to 
imitate. His teaching was : 

(i) Plain.— Although Jesus Christ uttered the most 
subHme truths. He did it in the simplest way. He spoke 
in short, crisp sentences, which have clung to the mem- 
ories of men, and used language which all could under- 
stand. Thus we read " the common people heard Him 
gladly "(St. Mark 12:37). 

(2) Practical.— It referred to daily Hfe and duties. 
Our Lord did not propound ethical theories, but gave 
practical precepts for a holy character to be manifested 
in pure and useful conduct; its special object was not 
truth, but good. Thus His teaching was suitable for all 
classes and conditions of men, rich and poor, old and 
young, and what is very remarkable, for all races of men 
throughout all time ; for though He lived in the Orient 
His teaching is as pertinent to the Occidental as to the 
Oriental ; though He taught in the first century, His teach- 
ings have never been excelled, and are as applicable to 
us to-day as to those to whom they were first addressed. 

(3) Pictorial.— Jesus Christ presented the truth He 
wished to teach in scenes with which His hearers were 



42 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHERS MANUAL 

familiar. He used the incidents of every-day life to con- 
vey truths of eternal importance. For instance instead 
of saying, " You ought to exert good influence on others," 
He said, " Ye are the salt of the earth ; ye are the light 
of the world" (St. Matt. 5:13, 14). It is wonderful how 
much we know of the daily life of Palestine through the 
illustrations He used. We see the sower scattering the 
seed, the housewife baking her bread and sweeping her 
house, the shepherd leading his sheep to pasture in the 
morning and bringing them back to the fold in the even- 
ing, the fisherman with his nets drawing the fish to land, 
the children playing in the market-place, the hen gather- 
ing her chickens under her wing, the gorgeous lilies, 
and the fruitful vine ; and each was used to convey 
and impress some precious lesson by means of analogy. 
As a father welcomes his returning prodigal son, so 
God receives and forgives the repentant sinner; as a 
genuine shepherd provides for and protects his sheep, so 
does Christ care for and watch over His disciples ; as a 
house built upon a rock will withstand the storm, so will 
those who obey His teaching. We ought to make great 
use of this principle, for an analogy, when it is clear, is 
the surest means of conveying a new truth to the mind 
of our scholars, because it is based upon the association 
of ideas ; it is explaining that the new, unfamiliar idea we 
are trying to teach is like some every-day experience with 
which they are familiar. 

(4) Positive.— The Master Teacher always commended 
the good more than He condemned the evil. He changed 
the " thou shalt not " of the law into the '' thou shalt " of 
the Gospel, and taught a positive and constructive code 
of ethics. The young man who had kept the whole law, 
that is, had refrained from a number of actions, is com- 
manded to do something, to sell his goods and feed the 
poor. To the duty of not doing harm was added the 
duty of doing good. Christ ever told His followers what 
they should be and do, rather than what they should not 



PRINCIPLES AND METHODS 43 

be and do. He bade them ♦' seek first the kingdom of 
God and His righteousness " ; and gave as His golden 
rule, the injunction, " Whatsoever ye would that men 
should do to you, do ye even so to them " (St. Matt. 
6: 33; 7: 12). 

So much of our teaching is negative ; we often speak 
to our scholars more of the evil to be avoided, than of 
the good to be performed. Some negative instruction is 
necessary, having a preventive value ; but the best teach- 
ing is that which holds up before the scholars the good 
to be achieved, the ideal to be reached. Therefore let us 
present to them noble ideals, and tell our scholars what 
we would have them to be ; rather than dwell too much 
upon their faults and failures. 

(5) He used object lessons.— On one occasion Christ 
took a child in His arms to emphasise the need of child- 
likeness in those who would be members of the kingdom 
of God. At another time He washed His disciples' feet 
to teach them humility. When He was asked if it was 
right to pay tribute to Caesar or not, He said, '* Show Me 
a penny " ; and from that He taught the lesson of duty 
to earthly rulers, and to God. The miracles of our Lord 
may also be looked upon as part of His method of teach- 
ing by object lessons, for they were never mere exhibi- 
tions of His power, but rather parables in action. 

The manner. — In the manner of the teaching of Jesus 
Christ there are three aspects which are worthy of our 
careful attention. He taught with — 

(i) Authority (St. Matt. 7:29). — The scribes, with 
whom the people contrasted the teaching of our Lord, 
rehearsed the sayings of others ; but He spoke with a 
conscious possession of truth in Himself. He did not 
claim to know all things ; but in the realm of rehgion He 
spoke with an accent of certainty : " Verily I say unto 
you " was the key-note of His sayings concerning God, 
and man, and duty. The great truths which He pro- 
claimed He asserted with assurance : •' Except your 



44 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHERS MANUAL 

righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes 
and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom 
of heaven " (St. Matt. 5 : 20) ; " Ye must be born again " 
(St. John 3 : 7). 

(2) G-raciousness (St. Luke 4 : 22). — There was a 
gentleness in the manner of the teaching of Jesus Christ, 
and a grace in His presentation of truth, which was new 
to His hearers, and so was very attractive and pleasing 
to them. How tender must have been His accents when 
He told of the love of God, or gave the gracious invita- 
tion, " Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy 
laden, and I will give you rest ; " and how loving His 
tones as He bade His disciples to " suffer the Httle chil- 
dren to come unto Me." He also fully understood the 
value of interlocutory teaching, and so encouraged His 
hearers to speak, and considered what they had to say ; 
He never rebuked them for asking questions, and sought 
to explain their difficulties, and to remove their doubts. 

(3) Power (St. Luke 4 : 32). — Whether our Redeemer 
spoke to many or to one, His words had unusual weight 
with those whom He addressed, because they recognised 
His absolute sincerity, that He practiced what He 
preached, and exemplified in His life what He proclaimed 
with His lips. 

Christ also had been endued with power from on high 
when the Holy Spirit descended upon Him at His bap- 
tism ; and so His sayings had great influence upon those 
to whom He spoke, for they were not merely human 
wisdom, but possessed divine power. And the power of 
His teaching was manifested in the wonderful effect it 
had in transforming the lives of those who obeyed His 
precepts. 

We need these qualities in our instruction, for we teach 
truths not theories ; there ought therefore to be a certainty 
of tone, and an assurance of manner when we teach, 
especially when we proclaim the eternal verities of divine 
revelation as summed up in the Apostles' Creed. We 



PRiNCI^LES AND METHOJDS 45 

should also be gracious and gentle in our manner, for 
nothing is more attractive ; even the rough and uncouth 
can often be won by kindness when all other efforts have 
proved useless. And there is no greater need in Sunday- 
school teaching than the enduement of power through 
the Holy Spirit ; for without that all our work will be in 
vain. 

Nothing will help us so much as teachers as a careful 
study of the methods of the Master Teacher, and the 
means He used to impress truths upon the minds and 
consciences of His hearers. 

Jesus Christ a great Student. — Jesus Christ was a great 
Teacher because He was a great Student. After He had 
left school He must have spent much of the time He 
could spare from His labours as the village carpenter, in 
the study of the three books which lay open before Him : 
— the Book of God, the Book of Man, and the Book of 
Nature. 

(i) Knowledge of the Bible.— At that time Hebrew 
was a dead language in Palestine, as Latin is in Italy 
now ; but our Lord learned to read the Holy Scriptures 
in the original. The wonderful knowledge which He had 
of the Old Testament in the Hebrew and Greek versions, 
as manifested in His many quotations, is a proof of how 
thorough His study of the Bible must have been. It is 
interesting to know that He either quoted from, or referred 
directly to, twenty-three books of the Old Testament. 

(2) Knowledge of human life.— There are few places 
where human Hfe can be better studied than in a country 
town, for there one comes into close personal touch with 
different characters, and can watch their development ; 
and in a town like Nazareth, where the caravan routes 
from Rome and Damascus to Jerusalem converged, Christ 
met the soldier and the merchant, the courtier and the 
traveller ; in fact, all sorts and conditions of men. Also in 
His annual visits to the Holy City He was thrown in 
contact with an entirely different kind of character. 



46 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER'S MANUAL 

There He saw that hypocrisy and spiritual degeneracy 
among the religious leaders of the people which led Him 
afterward so bitterly to denounce the Pharisees, with the 
scribes and priests. Thus our Lord became familiar with 
human life in its varied phases ; " and needed not that 
any should testify of man, for He knew what was in man " 
(St. John 2: 25). So knowing the character of His 
hearers and the condition of their lives, and therefore 
their spiritual needs, He was able to speak to them in a 
pointed and helpful manner. 

(3) Knowledge of nature.— Jesus Christ had also a deep 
insight into the meaning and poetry of nature, which He 
had a splendid opportunity of studying, for Nazareth was 
situated in a beautiful valley close to the fertile plain of 
Esdraelon, where the wild flowers grew in great luxuri- 
ance, while the snow-capped Hermon towered up to the 
north, and a few miles to the east nestled the lovely lake 
of Galilee. During His quiet walks into the country, 
when the day's work was done, Jesus noticed the beauty 
of the landscape and the flowers. He saw how God pro- 
vided for the birds. He watched the husbandman, the 
vine-dresser, the shepherd, and the fisherman in the pur- 
suit of their daily work ; and the whole book of nature 
was full of precious lessons of the thoughtful care and the 
loving protection of God, which in after years He used to 
illustrate truths concerning the kingdom of heaven, and 
to impress His teaching upon the minds of His hearers. 

Thus by careful study the great Teacher gained that 
well-rounded education which astonished the scribes in 
Jerusalem, and caused them to exclaim, " How knoweth 
this man letters, having never learned ? " (St. John 7:15). 
And we must study as Christ studied constantly and thor- 
oughly, and the subjects which He studied, if we would 
teach as He taught. 

We certainly need to have a greater knowledge of the 
Word of God than most of us now possess, for this must 
ever form the foundation of our teaching. A more 



/ 



PRINCIPLES AND METHODS 47 

intimate knowledge of human nature, especially as mani- 
fested in our scholars, will make our instruction more 
effectual in its appHcation. And a better knowledge of 
nature will help us very much in illustrating our lessons ; 
for as Froebel says, " From every object in nature there 
is a way to God ; the things of nature form a more beau- 
tiful ladder between heaven and earth than that seen by 
Jacob." And as Shakespeare says, there are " tongues 
in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones, 
and good in everything." 

VII. The Importance of the Teacher's Work 

" Suffer the little children to come unto Me, ... for of such is the 
kingdom of God." — St. Mark lo : 14. 

We sometimes fail to do the good work of which we 
are capable because we do not realise its true significance 
and value. There is, however, no work of greater im- 
portance, and few offices more sacred than that of the 
Sunday-school teacher. Because : — 

(i) Of the nature of those whom we teach. — For 
the future welfare of the country and the Church very 
largely depends upon those who are members of the 
Sunday-school. It is certain that the weal or the woe of 
the nation and the Church depends upon those who are 
now young ; but whether they will be their blessing or 
their bane will in a great measure be decided by the in- 
struction and training they will receive during their years 
of character-building. The rough-headed boy will soon 
be a man with a man's influence and power in the affairs 
of the city and the state ; the girl nursing the doll will in 
a {qv^ years be rocking the cradle and training the rising 
generation ; and remember " the hand that rocks the 
cradle rules the world." How supremely important it is 
therefore that they should receive a thoroughly sound 
religious education. The Jews express this truth in a 
proverb which says, " The world continues to exist only 
by the breath of the children of the schools." 



48 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHEr's MANUAL 

Moreover, the greater majority of our scholars are 
young ; and youth is but another word for capacity. 
They will either hve and labour for the glory of God and 
the good of man, or dishonour God and disgrace their 
own name ; they will either be good themselves and 
their influence a blessing, or they will be bad and 
their influence a curse. And the high honour and 
solemn privilege are given to us as teachers to seek so to 
train the members of our classes that their character 
may be pure and noble, and their influence beneficent ; 
for we are building for all time. 

You are famiHar with the passage of the Psalmist where 
he says, in Ps. 45 : i6, *' Instead of thy fathers shall be 
thy children, whom thou mayest make princes in all the 
earth." It is a message to the Church as the bride of 
Christ. She has had a wonderful past, yet she is not to 
rest content with that ; but rather to look forward to the 
future, and to devote her energies to the teaching and 
training of the children growing up around her. " Whom 
thou mayest make princes in all the earth." The boys 
and girls, the young men and maidens in our Sunday- 
schools are the King's sons and daughters, the men and 
women of to-morrow ; and they are handed over to our 
care, they are given to the Church, to teach and train 
that by God's grace we may make them princes and 
princesses of righteousness and truth, of honour and gen- 
tleness, of holiness and usefulness. '• In all the earth," 
not only in their own social circle, but it may be as mis- 
sionaries at home and abroad. 

Those whom we teach are also immortal, and their 
eternal destiny will be determined by the characters they 
form here. And these characters, which will live for- 
ever, and upon which so much depends, we as teachers 
help to build and mould ; hence the tremendous neces- 
sity of doing all we can to win our scholars for Christ 
and the Church. 

(2) The religious education of the young depends to 



PRINCIPLES AND METHODS 49 

a great extent upon the Sunday-school. — The state pro- 
vides for the intellectual instruction of the children, but 
leaves their moral and spiritual training almost entirely to 
their parents and the Church ; and in some homes, alas ! 
there is very little such training. It devolves largely 
therefore upon the Sunday-school, through the teachers, 
to perform that most essential and holy service, and so to 
complete the education of our scholars ; for they have not 
only bodies and minds, but also souls. It is therefore not 
enough to educate the head and the hand, the heart also 
must be trained. Our duty as teachers, as the represent- 
atives of the Church to our scholars, is to see that they 
are taught those truths *' which a Christian ought to know 
and beheve to his soul's health," and that they are 
«' virtuously brought up to lead a godly and a Christian 
life." We ought therefore to make the Sunday-school 
buildings, and the sessions of the Sunday-school, as at- 
tractive, and our lessons as effective, as possible ; for who 
can tell how much for time and eternity depends upon 
them ? 

Youth is also the decisive period of life ; for it is then 
that those habits are formed which make and mould 
character, which is the determining factor of destiny. 
Youth is almost always the time when a definite decision 
is made to lead an earnest Christian Hfe ; it is the time 
of the awakening of the spiritual Hfe, when most become 
members of the Church through confirmation, and when 
the workers of the Church consecrate themselves to the 
service of Jesus Christ. 

At a large Sunday-school convention a speaker to test 
the truth of this statement asked those present who had 
become servants of Christ after they were sixty years of 
age to rise, and a very few did so ; then he asked who 
had taken that decisive step after they were forty, 
and about a score rose ; then he requested those who 
gave their hearts to God and their lives to His service 
before they were twenty-one to stand, and nearly the 



50 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHEr's MANUAL 

whole audience stood. This is almost universal in the 
experience of Sunday-school and church work. How 
blessed then is the privilege of having the opportunity 
of endeavouring to direct the young aright at this decisive 
period of their lives, and how grave the responsibility rest- 
ing upon us, as Sunday-school teachers, to use this op- 
portunity aright. 

(3) As Sunday-school teachers we are the repre- 
sentatives of Jesus Christ in the work of teaching. — 
Our position is one of highest dignity, for the great 
Teacher of humanity before He ascended commanded 
the Church to carry on the ministry of proclaiming the 
divine truth which He had commenced, and the Church 
commissions the Sunday-school teacher to do this as her 
representative ; so that we as teachers are the representa- 
tives of our risen and ascended Lord in the blessed 
work of teaching the things concerning the kingdom of 
God. And this involves a solemn responsibility, for the 
Great Shepherd will require an account of how we have 
tended and cared for the lambs or sheep which He has 
committed to our charge. The Lord, however, does not 
leave us to do this alone. It is His service in which 
we are engaged, " we are labourers together with God " 
(i Cor. 3:2); so Christ is with us in our classes, as we 
seek to do His will, as He was with His disciples of old, 
for we read, *' The Lord working with them, and confirm- 
ing the word with signs following" (St. Mark 16: 20). 

But not only are we fellow labourers with Jesus Christ 
in this glorious work ; we also represent Him to the schol- 
ars in our characters and lives. Not only do we teach 
them about Him ; they largely form their opinion of our 
Lord from what they see in us. We are to them His 
representatives ; and we should so live that the members 
of our classes may see in us a reflection of the character 
of our Redeemer. If we really grasped this solemn truth 
would it not make us more careful about our dress, our 
behaviour and our conversation ? 



PRINCIPLES AND METHODS 5 1 

(4) We teach from the most wonderful book in the 
world. — The Bible, which has had a greater influence in 
upHfting humanity than all other books put together, the 
divine revelation of God to man. Its teachings have 
liberated the slave, elevated woman, taught the brother- 
hood of man, made the home pure, and life strong and 
sweet. It has revealed to us a Saviour, and told us of a 
heavenly Father's love ; it has filled our hearts with joy 
and peace in believing ; it has comforted us in sorrow, 
and inspired us with hope of a blessed future. It has 
been the instructor of childhood, the guide of youth, the 
monitor of manhood, and the solace of old age. It is the 
sword of the Spirit to the Christian soldier in his battle 
for the right ; it is the lamp of truth to lighten the path 
of the Christian pilgrim through this world ; it is the 
anchor of hope amid the storms of life. And what this 
blessed book has done for, and is to others, it will do for, 
and be to, our scholars, through the help of the Holy 
Spirit, if we teach it faithfully and reverently. 

(5) The Sunday-school is the most effectual means 
of increasing the membership and the efficiency of the 
Christian Church. — The Church is the greatest and most 
beneficent factor in the world's history ; for there is no 
other kingdom which has so many subjects, covers so 
wide an extent, and is doing so much to civilise and bless 
the human race, both at home and abroad. Therefore 
by adding to the strength of the Church we are bestow- 
ing a great and lasting benefit upon all mankind ; and in 
stirring up more enthusiasm for missions we are helping 
the good work which is being carried on in the cities, 
towns, and villages of our own land, and also in heathen 
countries. 

This then is the mission of the teacher in the Sunday- 
school. It is this which gives such dignity to our work, 
and makes it so supremely important. We are seeking 
to teach and train those who will live forever, and upon 
whom our efforts v^ill have an eternal influence. We 



$2 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHEr's MANUAL 

are labouring for the future good of the Church, the 
nation and the world. We are working with God in this 
most important field ; in this service we are living wit- 
nesses for Him, and we use as the principal means of 
our instruction His inspired Word. Surely, therefore, 
as we recognise the sacredness and high honour of our 
office as teachers in the Sunday-school, we realise also 
that it is well worth while to spend time and trouble to 
equip ourselves, and to prepare our lessons, as thoroughly 
as we can for the glorious and most beneficent work to 
which God has called us. 



List of Books for Reference, or Home Study 

Talks to Teachers on Psychology. James. Holt Net #1.50 

Sunday-School Teaching. Smith. Y. Churchman Co i.oo 

Teaching and Teachers. Trumbull. Scribner 1.25 

Manual of Methods. Butler. Y. Churchman Co Net i.oo 

The Teacher and the Child. Mark. Revell " .75 

The Point of Contact. Du Bois. Dodd, Mead & Co 75 

The Unfolding Life. Lamoreaux. Presbyt. Press Net .75 

Seven Laws of Teaching. Gregory. Pilgrim Press 60 

Picture Work (verbal). Hervey. Pilgrim Press 30 

Talks with Training Classes. Slattery. Pilgrim Press 25 

Unconscious Tuition. Huntington. Bardeen .30 

How to Keep Order. Hughes. Kellogg 15 

How to Hold Attention. Hughes. Kellogg 15 

The Art of Securing Attention. Fitch. Bardeen 15 

The Art of Teaching. Fitch. Kellogg 15 

The Art of Questioning. Fitch. Bardeen 15 

One to Twenty-One. Murray. Penna. S. S. Asso., Phila 10 



II 

THE TRAINING OF THE TEACHER 

BY THE 

Rev. George Hodges, D. D., D. C. L., 

Dean of the Episcopal Theological School, 
Caffibridge, Mass. 



II 

THE TRAINING OF THE TEACHER 

Every good teacher desires to be a good teacher. — 
If the incompetent teacher had an equal aspiration, the 
work of the Sunday-school would improve mightily. 

The fact that only the good teacher will attend a teach- 
ers' meeting for study of the lesson is so generally true 
that it is used in some schools as a means of procuring 
the resignation of poor teachers without hurting their 
feelings. The establishment of a rule that none may 
teach except such as will attend the teachers' meeting 
regularly, disposes of the indifferent instructors with the 
automatic accuracy of a law of nature. It is not in them 
to take their work seriously. They can no more appear 
with punctuality at a meeting for preparation of the les- 
son than a lazy person can get up on Sunday morning at 
six o'clock. This is a psychological situation, and the 
Sunday-school superintendent may well take account of 
it. Not only for the betterment of the good teacher but 
for the courteous dismissal of the bad, a teachers' meeting 
is an institution of value. In this respect it is an initial 
step in the training of the teacher, because it selects from 
the general company those persons who are susceptible 
of training and who desire it. 

The simplest method. — Such a training-class may be 
carried on in various ways, according to the local needs. 
Perhaps the simplest arrangement is that by which the 
minister takes the lesson for the following Sunday as the 
subject of an address at the mid-week service. There he 
expounds the passage for the benefit of the congregation 
in general, as well as for the information of the teachers 



56 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER'S MANUAL 

in particular. The fathers and mothers will thus be 
taught as well as the children, and will be able to give 
intelligent answers to the children's questions. The mid- 
week service will thus be made more interesting and more 
profitable. The rector, in preparation for his lecture, will 
be compelled to study the Bible carefully. He will thus 
be fulfilling those vows of his ordination which are more 
important than any of the others, and at the same time 
more easily neglected. " Will you study the Bible ? " — 
that is what the Church asks of the minister at the be- 
ginning of his ministry. He promises to do so, but the 
cares of other things sometimes prevent him. The teach- 
ers* meeting not only assists but compels him. 

A better method. — A difficulty with this combination 
of training-class and congregation is that the teachers 
have no opportunity to ask questions, and that the rector 
has no chance to discuss with them the matters which con- 
cern the school. It is better, therefore, if it is possible, 
to have a separate assembly of the teachers. In that 
case, I should like to have the minister, at the mid-week 
service, give a course of lectures on the books of the 
Bible, as an instruction for the congregation, and as a 
background for all the lessons in the school. I should 
have him begin with Genesis, and go straight on, book by 
book. Some of the history books, like Kings and Chron- 
icles, he would need to read more slowly, taking several 
weeks to each, trying to make the kings of Israel and 
Judah as real and familiar as the Presidents of the United 
States. Thus, stopping for several months in the warm 
weather, he would go over the whole Bible in two years. 
Then he could begin with Genesis again, and repeat the 
two years' course, and do it better. 

Such a systematic series of lectures would give the 
teachers a much-needed general knowledge. Many of 
them wander about in the Bible as a stranger without 
map or guide wanders about a city, seeing various things, 
but getting no fair or whole idea. Without some such 



THE TRAINING OF THE TEACHER 57 

general training the teacher may read the passage selected 
for the lesson as a person who is ignorant of history reads 
a page of a newspaper. All this about the Panama 
Canal, or the German Emperor, or the Education Bill, or 
the Japanese pupils in the San Francisco schools, is un- 
intelligible to such a reader because he does not know 
what has gone before. It is like a leaf torn from the 
middle of a novel. Who are these people ? Why are 
they behaving or conversing in this extraordinary fashion ? 
What does it all mean ? We cannot tell without the 
context. Such context, for the use of the Sunday-school 
teacher, the rector supplies by his regular and systematic 
instruction. 

Such instruction not only trains the teacher, but it 
builds the walls of the parish, straight and strong. Build- 
ing up an intelligent and loyal parish by means of frag- 
mentary lessons or sermons is like building a wall by 
piling up cobble-stones. But a series of instructions, 
prepared for with care, is like a course of masonry, square 
and enduring. President Dwight, a hundred years ago 
at Yale College, changed the whole current of the 
thought of the nation by a process of systematic teach- 
ing. The cultivated mind of that time was sceptical to 
the last degree. Hardly anybody believed anything. 
Especially in college, young men exulted in their eman- 
cipation from all that their fathers had held. They were 
as ignorant of religion as a blind man is ignorant of the 
difference between blue and yellow, and were proud of it. 
President Dwight arranged a course of sermons in the 
college chapel, covering four years. In that time he 
considered all the important points of the behef and the 
behaviour of a Christian man. Then he began over again. 
The result was that every man in the college had the 
whole Christian religion expounded to him point by point 
during his four years' course. And, in consequence, a 
generation thus trained confronted the superficial and ig- 
norant unbelief of that day victoriously. 



58 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER's MANUAL 

The analysis of the lesson. — With such a background, 
the rector may instruct a special teachers' class advan- 
tageously. They will be occupied with a single passage. 
This the rector will first analyze, getting the perspective, 
singling out the more important matters, and dealing 
with the lesson as the Church Catechism deals with the 
Apostles' Creed. " What dost thou chiefly learn ? " 
That is the first question to be considered. To this end, 
an outHne dictated for the teachers' note-books, or writ- 
ten on a blackboard for them to copy, may properly be- 
gin the session of the class. 

Suppose, for example, that the lesson is upon our 
Lord's interview with the woman of Samaria. Some 
such analysis as the following will illuminate the text. 

(i) The Place. 
(a) By a well. 

(i) Scenery (Stanley's "Sinai and Palestine," 

chap. 5). 
(2) Associations. 

Jacob's well, Gen. 2,Z ' 18-20. 
Joseph's well. Josh. 24 : 32. 
Ebal and Gerizim, Josh. 8 ; 33. 
(^) In Samaria. 

(i) Samaritans, 2 Kings 17 : 24-29. 
(2) Class lines disregarded — the Good Samaritan. 
(2) The Conversation. 

(^a) The Master and the woman. 
He : tired and thirsty. 
She : in her sins. 
(^) The beginning of the conversation, 
(i) The point of contact. 

(2) The unexpected. 

(3) The water of life. 

The satisfaction of religion. 
(^) The turning of the conversation, 
(i) The reproof. 

(2) From morals to ceremonies. 

(3) The spiritual worship. 



THE TRAINING OF THE TEACHER $9 

(d) The consequence of the conversation. 

Si) The great affirmation. 
2) The missionary message " Come, see." 

The exposition of the lesson. — After some such anal- 
ysis, the teacher of the teachers will expound the les- 
son. The analysis will enable him, and in their turn will 
enable them, to do this with some true sense of value and 
proportion. For some teaching is like some preaching : 
the musical note is diminuendo. That is, the instructor 
starts in with great interest and gives much time and care 
to the first two-thirds of his discourse. The third third 
is hurried and fragmentary, in the manner of one who is 
watching the clock. And yet the theme of the third third 
may be of more importance than those of the other two. 
This explains the sermons which start interesting ques- 
tions, and come to an end just as the speaker begins to 
answer them. It also explains the sermons in which a 
large introduction conducts the hearer to a very meagre 
homily, Hke a pillared porch of marble and mosaic 
through which one passes to a five-roomed house, some- 
times to a shanty or a shack. The proportions are all 
wrong because the preacher began without any working 
plans. The process which Phillips Brooks used may 
seem mechanical, but it worked well. As Dr. Allen re- 
veals it in the biography, he made an abstract of the ser- 
mon in paragraphs, and against each paragraph set a 
figure indicating the number of minutes which he would 
give, or rather the number of pages which he would 
allow to it in the final manuscript. He knew that he 
had, say, thirty pages to fill. He added the figures in the 
margin. If they fell short of thirty, he increased some 
of them ; if they exceeded thirty, he subtracted. By this 
mechanical device he knew that he would get in every- 
thing which he wished to say, and get it in its proper 
proportion. Thus the teacher, with such an outline, 
whether he is a rector teaching teachers or a teacher 



60 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER's MANUAL 

teaching boys and girls, is enabled to impart the whole 
lesson, giving importance to that which is of the most 
value, and putting the other things in the incidental 
background. 

In the expounding of the analysed lesson, the rector 
will keep in mind the fact that some of the teachers will 
pass on his instructions to boys and some to girls ; some 
will deal with children three feet high and some with 
children five feet high ; and he will try to bring in all 
kinds of things for them to sort out and appropriate to 
their own needs. His explanations, his illustrations, his 
applications will be varied and abundant. Thus in teach- 
ing a Christmas lesson, he will refer not only to Milton's 
" Hymn on the Morning of Christ's Nativity," but to the 
hymn which begins " O little town of Bethlehem " : one 
for one kind of class, one for another. 

The two notes — Belief and Behaviour. — In all these in- 
structions there will be two continual notes, sounded and 
resounded, and never absent from any lesson : one will 
be the note of Belief, the other the note of Behaviour. 
For the essential purpose of the Sunday-school is to train 
up boys and girls into men and women who are both 
well-beheving and well-behaving. To have a clear con- 
sciousness of God, and an intimate perception of Jesus 
Christ as God made manifest among men, and a reahsa- 
tion of the inestimable value of the soul ; to know the 
difference in detail between right and wrong, and to hold 
this difference in its relation to the Day of Judgment, 
— this is what we want. In comparison, an ability to 
recite in order the names of the Minor Prophets, or of 
the Twelve Patriarchs, or even of the Twelve Apostles is 
altogether insignificant. If the environment of history 
or of scenery helps to make the lesson so real that the 
sense of the presence of God and the distinction in morals 
between white and gray are made more plain, then let us 
have history and scenery or any other exterior circum- 
stance which we may learn from the dictionary of the 



THE TRAINING OF THE TEACHER 6l 

Bible. Bat if Ebal and Gerizim so loom up in the fore- 
ground as to hide from us the Master in His conversa- 
tion with the woman, then they are but impertinent 
geographical protuberances with which we are to deal in 
the spirit of Him who came that every mountain and hill 
might be laid low. So short a time is allotted to the les- 
son, that there is little opportunity for anything which 
does not bear directly upon religion. 

The leader, then, will impress upon the teachers the 
religious uses of the lesson. He will direct them 
definitely how to make the lesson effective. He and they 
will keep before them unfailingly the essential fact that 
the lesson is not an end but a means, a means whereby to 
accomplish the great purposes for which the school 
exists. 

A list of questions helpful. — As an aid to this end, the 
rector may find it useful to give the teacher a series of 
good questions, either in a book or printed leaf put forth 
in connection with some general system of instruction ; 
or in his own words, dictating them, one set for younger, 
another for older pupils. For in our revolt against the 
tyranny of the old catechisms we have gone too far. We 
have been misled by the excellent example of the public 
school. The teachers of the public school are trained 
persons, for the most part, who have been taught the art 
of asking questions. Our teachers are, for the most part, 
unskilled in this technical, but very necessary, part of 
pedagogical work. If any of them do actually know how 
to question a class, good; but most of them, after they 
have learned the lesson, and learned it well, are as help- 
less in the presence of a class as a student who has studied 
navigation in a book and is called upon to practice it in 
the handling of a ship. They need a list of suggestive 
questions : not many, but enough to bring out the main 
points. 

Thus analysis, exposition, and questions are the chief 
occupations of a teachers' class. To these may be added 



62 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER's MANUAL 

with profit some consideration of the science of general 
pedagogics, so far as the leader is able to expound it. 
Here the teachers may bring forward their individual dif- 
ficulties : — how to deal with impudent boys and bashful 
girls ; how to teach the Old Testament in the light of the 
new scholarship ; how to organise Sunday-school societies 
and maintain them ; how to manage picnics and prizes, 
and a hundred other local perplexities. A good book to 
read aloud, in case the teachers are a rather reserved and 
silent lot, is Dr. Trumbull's " Teaching and Teachers." 
It is both amusing and suggestive. 

I have considered the teachers' meeting at this length, 
not because it is essential to the proper training of a 
teacher, but because it involves most of the principles 
which enter into such training. It is possible to get 
along without a teachers' meeting. There are very suc- 
cessful parishes in which there is no such institution. 
But when it is lacking, it is necessary, as I shall show 
presently, for the teacher to substitute for it a teachers' 
meeting of one. That is, the teacher must do all this by 
himself for his own good. 

Various other excellent aids. — Various other excellent 
aids to the preparation of the teacher may be in the same 
way, either social or individual. The rector may so ar- 
range them as to make provision for all the teachers, or 
the teachers may shift for themselves. To quote from 
the book of Exodus, the administration may provide the 
straw, or the workmen may wander up and down the 
land of Egypt seeking straw for themselves. As a mat- 
ter of fact, in Egypt, two results followed this placing of 
the burden of provision on the individual. One was that 
the Israelites gathered stubble instead of straw ; and the 
other was that as they gathered it, they were both dis- 
gusted and discontented. Thus Pharaoh's policy made 
poor workmen and poor walls. Ideally, the parish should 
provide the straw. Otherwise, the parish must take the 
chances of the substitution of stubble. 



THE TRAINING OF THE TEACHER 63 

A teachers' library. — For example, if there is a meeting 
for study, the leader ought to be able to refer the teachers 
to the books ; and if there is none, a reference to them 
may well be made in the helps which are given for the 
study of the lesson. Some of the teachers may have such 
books at home, but this will be an infrequent instance. 
The reference books are many of them expensixe. The 
essential volumes, for example, are a Bible dictionary and 
a commentary; and these cost money. If the parish can 
provide them ; if they can be kept in the Sunday-school 
room or in the vestry room, where the teachers may have 
convenient access to them, the children of the parish 
will be better taught. This, I suppose, is the rational basis 
on which the Sunday-school stands in the parish. It 
is maintained for the purpose of rendering a vital service 
to the parish. Under such conditions, it is the most ob- 
vious business economy to equip the school with such 
necessary appliances as may make it possible for the 
teachers to do their most efficient work. 

Failing the provision of a teachers' library, as must un- 
happily be the case in many parishes, the rector may 
open his own book-shelves to the teachers. He may ap- 
point convenient times when they may come to his study, 
with a Bible in one hand and a note-book in the other, 
and consult the passages which he has selected for their 
better understanding of the lesson. A list of such pas- 
sages may be posted week by week on the parson's study 
door. This arrangement has the advantage of bringing 
the rector into relation with the teachers as they are in 
the act of preparing the lessons. Under these informal 
conditions he will be able to teach them definitely and 
precisely what they desire to know. 

A regular corporate communion. — By this I mean not a 
communion to which only the teachers come, but an 
understanding which they have with the rector and 
among themselves whereby at a stated service, once a 
month or once a week, they shall all come, with such 



64 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TKACHER's MANUAL 

other communicants as may be present, and without any 
other arrangement, to the Lord's Table. For the most 
important part of the preparation of the teacher is that 
which determines character. I have said a good deal 
about the intellectual side of teaching, for that is easy to 
discuss, but it is wholly subordinate to this, of which I 
shall say little because it does not come readily into 
words and sentences. All the good teachers know what 
it is. They know by experience, and are sometimes 
startled, sometimes discouraged, always sobered by the 
knowledge, — that their effectiveness depends only in small 
part on their study of books. It depends on themselves : 
on the tones of their voices and the Hght of their eyes, — 
even on their gloves, their rings and their boots. It de- 
pends on a patience, an interest, a sympathy, an affection 
which they cannot successfully simulate. The children 
always find the teacher out. They ask so much, that 
sometimes it seems impossible to go on teaching ; and 
yet, at the same time, they ask so little that resignation 
seems a piece of cowardice and shameful confession. 
For they demand the elemental virtues, the great, neces- 
sary and blessed commonplaces of character, — honesty 
and sincerity. They look at us to see if we care : that is 
the heart of it. Do we care for God and for them ? 

But in order that the teachers may indeed care for God 
and for their children they need the grace of heaven every 
Sunday. Sometimes it is possible to have a brief meet- 
ing of the teachers, say for five minutes, before school ; 
when they and the minister may pray together, asking 
God to help them to undertake the immediate duty, and 
in undertaking it to realise both its significance and its 
possibilities. If our real business is to bring about bet- 
ter believing and better behaving, let us stop still for a 
moment before we go in and make ourselves sure of that. 
It is like the prayer before the sermon. 

Whether or not this devotional act is possible, some 
sort of corporate communion is everywhere possible. At 



THE TRAINING OF THE TEACHER 65 

such a service, in the sacred silences, the teachers may be 
asked to pray for their scholars. I mean by name, bring- 
ing with them their class list, and taking the names one 
by one upon their hps as they pray, and asking for each 
one in turn the grace and strength and guidance which 
are needed, praying that, if it be the will of God, the teach- 
ers may be the messengers and fellow workers of heaven 
to say the right word and give the right counsel, now to 
this soul and now to that, this day. Such intercession 
lifts up the whole level of the Sunday-school so that the 
light of heaven shines upon it. 

The teacher and the lesson. — A teachers' meeting, a 
teachers' library and a teachers' communion are ex- 
cellent when they may be had ; but with or without these 
helps, the responsibility rests at best upon the teacher. 
Nobody can learn the lesson for the teacher, and nobody 
else can teach it. The central act has two scenes : in the 
first, the teacher is face to face with the lesson ; in the 
second, the teacher is face to face with the class. With 
the second situation this present chapter is not concerned. 
The province which is allotted to me is bounded by the 
street on which the schoolroom opens. On the other 
side of this highway we part company, and the teacher 
goes across to meet the class. 

In the matter of the teacher and the lesson, it would 
not be difficult to give good advice. That has been done, 
however, and well done, by many persons. Perhaps the 
purpose may be served as effectively by taking an actual 
lesson and going through the process of getting it ready 
for the class, as the cooking teacher takes flour and yeast 
and water and constructs a loaf of bread. 

Let us select for illustration the story of the healing of 
a blind man at Jericho, as St. Luke tells it in his eighteenth 
chapter. 

The first step. — The first step is to read the lesson with 
the context. Thus we perceive that this happened near 
the end of our Lord's life, as He was on His way to 



66 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER's MANUAL 

Jerusalem and Calvary. He knew well, as He told the 
twelve, what awaited Him at the end of the journey. 
Thus it was the definite beginning of the tragedy. In- 
deed, we may guess that it was precisely a week before 
Good Friday ; for on the next day He came to Bethany, 
and on the day after, He made that entry into Jerusalem 
which we commemorate on Palm Sunday. There He was, 
then, going to be crucified. And yet, He stopped by 
the way to help this blind man ; and half an hour after. 
He stopped again to speak to Zacchseus, as it says in the 
next chapter. It shows how kind and thoughtful He 
was, always considerate of others rather than of Himself. 

The next step. — The next step is to find if there is any 
other record of this act of healing. Yes, there is, in 
St. Matthew's twentieth chapter, and St. Mark's tenth. 
In one of those accounts we learn the man's name. He 
was called Bartimaeus ; that is, the son of Timaeus. 
This is a curious fact, for although beggars have fathers, 
like other people, their names are not commonly known. 
Indeed, a beggar is usually an unnamed person. This 
is one of thehttle windows which admit us, if we will, into 
the Palace of Guesses. Let us guess that our Lord not 
only healed the man, but took a personal and individual 
interest in him, and asked him about himself and his 
family. That is what He would do. He did not heal 
and pass by, as one who puts a coin in a mendicant's 
hat. 

But another account says that there were two blind 
men, and that they were healed, not as Jesus entered into 
Jericho, but as He departed from it. Here is a difficulty. 
Even St. Mark, who tells us the man's name, says that 
the miracle occurred as the Lord went out of the city. 
So it is a comphcated matter. Under these circum- 
stances, there are two courses between which to choose. 
If we have a theory of inspiration which makes it very 
hard for us to believe that there are any errors in the 
Bible, then the best thing to do is to follow Mr. Moody's 



THE TRAINING OF THE TEACHER 6/ 

homely but very wise counsel. He said that he treated 
these things as he did the bones when he ate fish ; he 
never tried to eat the bones, he just put them on the side 
of the plate and ate the fish. If, on the other hand, we 
have a theory of inspiration which is not disturbed by 
errors, then we may say, *• We don't know, and we can 
never know, just how it was, but it is plain that the ac- 
counts come from various witnesses ; they are not one 
account copied. If all the ten members of the class had 
seen an automobile accident on Friday, they would give 
ten different accounts of it on Sunday. That is human 
nature." 

But the three narratives agree that our Lord opened a 
blind man's eyes. That is the thing of real importance. 
And that, when we consider it, presents a much more 
serious and weighty difficulty. For here we come upon 
the miraculous. Even this, of course, is no difficulty for 
Httle children, for they are still living in the Garden of 
Eden, where any tree may be a tree of the knowledge of 
good and evil, and where the animals talk naturally. 
The time for a discussion of the miraculous is when chil- 
dren ask questions about it. Here, again, are various 
courses. We may say, " I don't know ; except this, that 
the world is full of mystery, and with all our knowledge 
we are still ignorant. I would not dare to say of any 
miracle that it did not happen. Too many incredible 
things happen every day." Or we may say, " Well, as 
for miracles of healing, they take place in our time and 
neighbourhood, sometimes wrought by the doctor, some- 
times wrought in the name of religion. There is no 
doubt about them. They are not explained, but there 
they are." Or we may go deeper into the difficulty and 
show how the old nervousness about miracles belonged 
to a time when it was thought that there was a great dif- 
ference between the natural and the supernatural : the 
natural belonged to law, only the supernatural belonged 
to God. The diminishing of the supernatural was thus a 



68 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER's MANUAL 

gradual banishment of God. But to-day we perceive 
that God is just as much in every blessed opening of our 
eyes to see the sun as He was in any healing of the bhnd 
man. 

The third step. — The third step is to read the lesson. 
The teacher is tempted in this reading to linger over the 
interesting geography, because geography is so much 
more easy to teach than theology or ethics. For exam- 
ple, in this lesson, there is enough information to be had 
about Jericho to fill the entire time. We look in a con- 
cordance to find what happened at Jericho, and it is like 
going to the theatre : the place is a scene of both comedy 
and tragedy. The walls fall down ; the architect's sons 
die ; the king's messengers appear with one side of the 
face bearded and the other side shaved, and stay there 
much ashamed till their beards grow again ; the Good 
Samaritan — and so on, and so on. But this is not a les- 
son about Jericho. The central fact is not a city, but a 
beggar. All that we need to know about the city for our 
present purpose is that there were walls about it, and that 
the houses were white and the streets were white, — and 
very trying to the eyes, — and that palms grew beside the 
road. Thus we are helped to see the place. 

By the side of the road, wrapped in a long cloak, for 
the morning is cool, and the spring wind is sharp, we see 
a beggar. His sense of observation is hearing. And 
what does he hear? The sound of tramping feet as the 
crowd goes by ; of feet and of answering voices. For the 
blind beggar asks, ** What is it? What does it mean?" 
And they say, " Jesus of Nazareth passeth by." Now 
hear what the beggar says : " Jesus, thou Son of David, 
have mercy on me." This shows that the beggar has 
been thinking ; and after long reflection, for days past, — 
knowing about Jesus as everybody did, — he has come to 
his own conclusion, and it differs from that of his neigh- 
bours. To them the Lord is Jesus of Nazareth ; to him 
He is the Son of David. And what does that title mean ? 



THE TRAINING OF THE TEACHER 69 

This is enough, perhaps, to show the process. Grad- 
ually our outline shapes itself. Like this : 

(i) Preliminary difficulties : 

(a) As to the narrative. 
{b) As to the miracle. 

(2) Time and place : 

{a) The Friday before Good Friday. 

[b) The Jericho street. 

(3) The eyes of the blind are opened : 
(a) The definite need. 

Ip) The saving faith. 
{c) The gift of two eyes. 

By the last point, I mean that God gives us our two 
eyes just as truly as He gave them to the blind man. 
We ought to be grateful to Him for them, and we ought 
to use them as His gift. 

The class. — Another part of the preparation of the 
teacher is the study of the class. It is not enough to 
know the lesson, it is necessary also to know the scholars. 
For teaching, like preaching, is much more than a state- 
ment of the truth. The truth, in order to be effective, 
must be so stated as to appeal to the hearers. Many ex- 
cellent sermons have a dull sound in the ears of the con- 
gregation because they are not adapted to the congrega- 
tion. They do not touch their interests, nor meet their 
needs. They are " over their heads " ; and they are over 
their heads because the preacher is looking at the ceiling 
or the stars when he ought to be looking at the sexton 
and the senior warden. This is a matter which does not 
lend itself to extended discussion, but it is necessary and 
fundamental. 

Visiting the scholars. — The teacher prepares the lesson 
by calling on the scholars, by becoming acquainted with 
their parents, their brothers and sisters, and the ornaments 
on their parlour mantelpieces. Much is gained when the 
teacher knows what the scholars are studying between 



70 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHERS MANUAL 

Sundays, and what they are reading out of school for fun. 
This makes reference and illustration possible. The 
teacher who has to consult the class list to see which lad 
is John and which is James has not yet begun to teach, 
because the initial requisite, the point of contact, the re- 
lation, has not been established. The teacher who hon- 
estly cares for the scholars will have attention, and, in 
due course of time, affection. 

For Sunday-school teaching is a simple thing, in spite 
of all these pages about it. The heart of all good teach- 
ing is the strong desire to teach, as the heart of all good 
learning is the strong desire to learn. To perceive with 
clearness a great truth on one side and a small child on 
the other, and to endeavour by study of the truth and of 
the child to make them friends together, by the grace of 
God, — this is the high mission of the teacher. But it can 
be performed by anybody who loves both the truth and 
the children. 



Books for Reference and Study 

The Place and Function of the Sunday-school in the Church. 

Paret. Whittaker Net $ .50 

The Churchman's Manual of Methods. Butler. Y. C. Co. . " i.oo 

Fireside Child Study. DuBois. Dodd, Mead & Co. ... .75 

The Child's Religious Life. Koons. Metb. Bk i.oo 

Principles and Ideals for the Sunday-school. Burton & Math- 
ews. Univ. of Chicago Net i.oo 

The Point of Contact in Teaching. DuBois. Dodd, Mead . .75 

Principles of Religious Education. Longmans 1.25 

The Spiritual Life. Coe. Meth. Bk i.oo 

Talks to Teachers in Psychology. James. Holt Net 1.50 

Unconscious Tuition. Huntington. Bardeen " .30 



Ill 

THE OLD TESTAMENT 

BY THE 

Rev. Alford A. Butler, D. D., 

Formerly Warden of the Seabury 
Divinity School, 



Ill 

THE OLD TESTAMENT 

The Bible is a religious unit. — All that it contains is 
written from one standpoint, that of Religion. Its one 
purpose is to reveal to mankind the Person of God, the 
nature of man, the relation of man to God, and of man to 
his neighbour. If we would understand the Bible, we 
must study it from the same standpoint, and with the 
same purpose. 

The Bible is a covenant unit — We call it the Old and 
the New Testament. The word Testament obscures, rather 
than reveals its divine purpose. The relation of God to 
man is, from the beginning to the end, a covenant rela- 
tion. We shall better understand the Bible if we think 
of it, and study it from the standpoint of God's Old and 
New Covenant with mankind. 

The Old Covenant. — The Old Covenant is a unit made 
up of many minor units. Its natural divisions are not its 
books, much less its chapters. We cannot grasp the 
multitudinous details of its thousands of years of sacred 
history ; we cannot begin to understand it as a whole, 
until we discover its natural divisions. 

The Old Covenant is a gradual unfolding of the Divine 
Purpose, as men " were able to hear it " (St. Mark 4 : 33). 
The unfolding is in many minor stages. Our space is 
small. Our stages must be few and long. Our first stage 
extends from the Creation to the Dispersion of mankind. 
It is a period of Beginnings. Our second stage is from 
the call of Abraham to the institution of the Passover. 
It is the period of the Patriarchal Covenant. Our third 
is from the institution of the Passover to the rise of 



74 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHERS MANUAL 

Samuel. It is the period of the National Covenant. 
Our fourth extends from the founding to the disrupting 
of the monarchy, and is the period of the Hebrew king- 
dom. Our fifth extends from the disruption of the king- 
dom to the close of Old Covenant history. It is the 
period of the dechne of the king and the rise of the 
prophet. The concluding study presents the prophets' 
vision of the Messianic Kingdom. 

Our plan of study. — You cannot understand the Bible 
by studying this manual, or any other. The Word of 
God itself must be your text-book. All that I can hope 
to do is to suggest methods of study that will help you. 
The first step is to get a workable idea of the Old 
Covenant as a whole. Let us begin by committing to 
memory : 



The Historic Epochs of the Old Testament 

I. Beginnings of the Divine Covenant. 
II. The Patriarchal Covenant, b. c. 2000 to 1 250. 
(Approximate.) 

III. The National Covenant, b. c. 1250 to 1030. 
(Approximate.) 

IV. The Hebrew Kingdom of God. b. c. 1030 to 930. 
V. The Decline of Monarchy and the Rise of Proph- 
ecy. B. c. 930 to 433. 

VI. The Prophets' Messianic Kingdom of God. 

Next, that you may recall the sacred story as a whole, 
I ask you to read the chapter headings (only) of each 
book from Genesis to Esther (omitting Leviticus and the 
two books of Chronicles). As you read write out the 
headings which you consider of the greatest importance 
from the religious standpoint. Then write them in their 
proper place under the above first five headings. Study 
to make a wise selection, and you will have not over from 
five to ten entries under any one period. Then, as a prep- 
aration for our next step, read the first eleven chapters 



THE OLD TESTAMENT 75 

of Genesis. Do not study them critically (that will come 
later). Read them just as you would a story which you 
wanted to remember. Read it intensely, seeking to see 
the sacred pictures so as to be able to make your pupils 
see them. 

I. Beginnings of the Divine Covenant 

The creation of mankind — The creation of mankind is 
summed up in words few and simple. " In the beginning 
God created the heaven and the earth." God, not mat- 
ter, is eternal ; divine wisdom, not chance, determined the 
plan of the universe. The work of divine creation 
covered six periods. In the first, light was created ; in 
the second, the earth's atmosphere (" firmament ") ; in 
the third, water and land were separated, herb and tree 
appeared ; in the fourth, sun, moon and stars were made ; 
in the fifth, fish for the sea and fowl for the air ; and in 
the sixth, cattle, beast, and creeping things for the land. 
Then to crown His work, God said, " Let us make man 
in our image^ after our likeness, and let them have 
dominion . . . over all the earth . . . and over 
every hving thing that moveth upon the earth." So the 
Lord God •' formed man of the dust of the ground, and 
breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man be- 
came a living soul." Then God *' rested on the seventh 
day," and hallowed it as a day of rest for all mankind. 

As a home for Adam and Eve God prepared a garden 
wherein His perfect children might live a perfect Hfe. 
The garden supplied their every need : the fruits of the 
ground for their physical nature, the fruit of the one Tree 
of Life for their spiritual nature, and their Father's 
friendship for divine communion and guidance. God 
gave Adam but two commands. He must as a faithful 
and an obedient son dress and keep the garden ; he must 
not eat the fruit of " the tree of knowledge of good and 
evil." 



76 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER's MANUAL 

The fall of mankind. — How long Adam and Eve 
obeyed the divine Voice that walked with them in the 
cool of the day we know not ; we only know that an 
hour came when they listened to the voice of the tempter 
and ate of the forbidden fruit. Adam had obeyed the 
slanderer of his Father. God, however, did not leave His 
children in the power of their spiritual enemy. Yet as 
they had disobeyed the All Holy, they must suffer the 
consequences of their action. The penalty of disobedi- 
ence Avas shame, sorrow, and suffering of soul. It was so 
in the beginning ; it is so to-day. Yet Adam's penalty, 
expulsion from Eden, lifelong labour, and final return to 
the dust from which he came, was itself a hidden mercy. 
To have been permitted to remain in Eden, partake of the 
Tree of Life, and " live forever " in sin, would have been 
an eternal curse. But it was in the midst of God's sen- 
tence upon Eve, and His curse upon the tempter, that He 
uttered that promise of eternal victory over sin which has 
been man's hope and inspiration. The serpent had 
wounded, and would again wound, the heel of Adam, 
but the son of Eve — a second Adam, would certainly 
crush the head of the serpent. In this divine promise is 
the beginning of the First Covenant, the beginning of that 
far-off Gospel of Redemption which unifies and glorifies 
the whole Word of God. 

The lengthening shadow of sin. — The lengthening 
shadow of sin soon falls upon those who had invoked it. 
Eve saw in her first-born the promised conqueror of 
Satan, and found him the first murderer. She looked 
with loving hope into the devout eyes of her second- 
born, only to see him become the first victim of a 
brother's hate. Was it any compensation that Cain built 
the first historic city, that his descendants taught man to 
make tents and tools, and to practice polygamy ? But 
hope was born with Seth, the third son. With his de- 
scendants " began men to call upon the name of the 
Lord." And of Enoch it is written that he " walked with 



THE OLD TESTAMENT 7/ 

God, and he was not, for God took him" to Himself. 
Another of Seth's line was Noah, whom God blessed. 
But the piety of the line of Seth was exceptional. In 
mankind generally God saw '• that every imagination of 
their hearts was only evil and that continually." Soon 
the cup of the world's wickedness was full. 

The deluge.— To the family of Noah God turned to 
find " a righteous remnant " with whom He could keep 
His covenant promise. Noah was warned and instructed 
how to build an ark of safety before " the fountains oi 
the great deep were broken up" to destroy the flesh 
of the wicked. In addition to his family, Noah was 
commanded to save two of every species of beasts and 
birds unfit for sacrifice, and seven of every " clean " 
species. For 150 days the waters prevailed over the then 
known earth. When Noah and his family left the ark, 
his first act was to build an altar. His sacrifice of thanks- 
giving was accepted, and with him God made the Divine 
Covenant, that " while the earth remained, seed-time 
and harvest " should never again cease ; and God chose 
the bow in the cloud as His covenant sign and seal. 
From this time God permitted men to slay animals for 
food, as well as for sacrifice ; but He reminds them that 
man is made in the image of God, that all human life is 
sacred, and that " whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man 
shall his blood be shed." 

The dispersion. — Disregarding the Divine Covenant to 
go out and repeople the earth, most of Noah's descend- 
ants settled together in the rich plain of Shinar, planning 
to build a great city and tower, " whose top might reach 
to heaven." But Jehovah confounded their language, 
and dispersed them. Later, Nimrod, a great-grandson 
of Noah, founded, in Assyria, Nineveh and many other 
cities of a mighty empire, whose vast ruins still remain. 
Ten generations after the flood all the earth was again 
corrupt. For the third time mankind had proved itself 
a fallen race. 



78 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER's MANUAL 

Constructive Review 

What are the divisions of this period ? 

In this period, how many moral and religious begin- 
nings ? 

What two basic religious laws did Jehovah establish ? 

What are the creative distinctions between man and 
beast ? 

Does the Genesis narrative itself explain Heb. 11:4? 

Can you rehearse the articles of Abel's belief? 

What " beginning " marked the birth of Enos ? 

What truth is common to Gen. 2 : 7-9, 3 : 22 ; John 
6 : 26, 6 : 48-5 1 ; Matt. 26 : 26-29, ^^^i Rev. 2:7? 

Contrast the character of Cain's and Seth's descendants. 

In the light of your studies, read carefully the first 
eleven chapters of Genesis, and make notes of the new 
truths they reveal to you. 

Preparation for the next period. — This requires read- 
ing and picturing the story from Genesis 12 to Exodus 2 
(omit the genealogies). Remember, your knowledge 
comes from Holy Scriptures, not from this manual. 

II. The Patriarchal Covenant 

From the call of Abraham to the birth of Moses 
About B. C. 2000 to B. C. 12^0 

This period is a unit composed of four minor units : 
(a) the age of Abraham ; (b) the age of Isaac and 
Ishmael ; (c) the age of Jacob and Esau ; (d) the age 
of Joseph and Egyptian Bondage.^ Chronologically these 
ages overlap, yet each age is dominated by a single 
character. 

Abraham's call and choice. — Abraham's call and 
choice began God's plan for the renewal of His cove- 
nant blessings to fallen man. So from heathen Ur of the 
Chaldees Abraham started, knowing nothing save that 

^ It will be helpful to commit the above to memory. 



THE OLD TESTAMENT 79 

Jehovah had said, " In thee shall all the families of the 
earth be blessed." His first stop in the Promised Land 
was at Shechem ; here he built an altar to the Lord. 
Later he pitched his tent near Bethel and erected his 
altar. 

Lot's choice.— The cattle of Abraham and his nephew 
Lot were too many for their pastures. The faith of 
Abraham prompted him to give to the younger the first 
selection of land. Lot chose to hve among the wicked 
in the valley of the Dead Sea because it was a *• very 
garden." Abraham also moved and pitched his tent 
under the oak of Mamre (near Hebron). Here he built 
his altar and dwelt in peace. Suddenly word came that 
the king of Sodom and Lot had been carried off as 
prisoners of war. Abraham armed his servants, secured 
the aid of Prince Mamre, and by a forced march and an 
unexpected night attack, overthrew the invaders and 
rescued the captives. 

Melchizedek.— Melchizedek, king and priest of Salem, 
met Abraham on his return. This mysterious man, a 
Canaanite, yet a worshipper of Jehovah, and a devout 
priest in His service, gave to Abraham bread and wine, 
and blessed him in the name of •' the most high God." 
To Melchizedek Abraham gave tithes of all that he had 
captured. Yet when the king of Sodom urged Abraham 
to accept all the spoil he refused to accept even a shoe- 
latchet. 

The covenant eacriflce.— Abraham was a general and 
a prince, but — he was childless, and despondent. The 
All Holy stoops to human weakness. He promises him 
a son and an heir ; and as a bright flame in midnight dark- 
ness, God appeared to Abraham and made a new cove- 
nant with him. Abraham was content, but his wife was 
not. She gave him Hagar, her handmaid, for a second 
wife, — only to add to her own sorrow. Ishmael was 
thirteen years of age before God again appeared to the 
patriarch, changed his name from Abram to Abraham 



8o THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHEr's MANUAL 

(" the father of a multitude ") and announced that the birth 
of the covenant son was at hand. By divine command 
Abraham and all the men of his house received the 
covenant sign of circumcision. 

Isaac the child of promise. — Isaac was born soon 
after Lot escaped destruction in Sodom. When eight 
days old he was circumcised, and received the name 
God had chosen. Isaac had grown to be a strong lad 
when the greatest trial of Abraham's life came to him. 
He was commanded by Jehovah to offer his only son for 
a burnt offering. Terrible as was the trial, Abraham's 
faith failed not. He obeyed in will, and the knife was in 
his hand when God stayed the blow, blessed his perfect 
faith and renewed and enlarged the covenant promises. 

Isaac's marriage and Abraham's death. — After his 
triumph of faith, the life of the patriarch was one of 
peace. His one care was to see his son Isaac married to 
a daughter of his people. When Rebekah, the grand- 
child of Abraham's brother Nahor, was brought to Beer- 
sheba, Isaac obtained a beautiful and Jehovah-fearing 
wife, and the friend of God was content. He died at 
175, and was buried by Isaac and Ishmael in the cave of 
Machpelah (now covered by the Mosque of Hebron). 

The life of Isaac— The life of Isaac was one of quiet 
pastoral prosperity. He dwelt for nineteen years, pa- 
tiently waiting for the birth of his promised son and 
heir, beside the wells of Beersheba, which his father had 
dug. But domestic discord came with his children. 

Esau and Jacob. — Jacob and Esau, the twin sons of 
Isaac, and heirs of the covenant, were opposites. Esau 
was a daring hunter, and his father's favourite. Jacob was 
a lover of the tent and the favourite of his mother. The 
satisfying of his appetite was dearer to Esau than were the 
rights of the first-born, and Jacob purchased the head- 
ship of the family for a mess of pottage. Esau chose 
wives from the daughters of the heathen Hittites. Jacob 
carried out Rebekah's plot, deceived his aged father and 



THE OLD TESTAMENT 8 1 

stole the patriarchal blessing, which belonged to his 
heedless brother. Jacob beUeved that the holy end justi- 
fied the unholy means. His after life pays the penalty. 

Jacob's providential training. — Jacob's providential 
training began at once. To escape the murderous rage 
of Esau, he flees to Laban, his mother's brother. With 
the earth for his bed and a stone for his pillow the fugi- 
tive sleeps at Bethel. Here God gives him the vision of 
a heavenly ladder, and renews to him the covenant prom- 
ises of Abraham. Jacob had yet to learn that every 
covenant means obligationy and that a ladder is some- 
thing to be climbed. In the house of Laban Jacob is 
cruelly deceived, even as he had deceived his father. 
Seven years he labours for Rachel, but awakes to find 
himself married to Leah, and is obliged to serve seven 
years more to obtain the one he loves. Six years longer 
he labours in heat and frost ; ten times Laban deceitfully 
changes his wages. Thus his few weeks' visit to Laban 
becomes twenty toilsome years. 

Jacob becomes Israel— Jacob has learned his lesson. 
When on his homeward journey wronged Esau comes to 
meet him with 400 men, he seeks protection, not in de- 
ceit, but from the God of his fathers. All night he 
wrestles in prayer with a holy one from God and pre- 
vails. Jacob (the supplanter) is henceforth Israel, the 
Prince of God. He pitches his tent first at Shechem, as 
Abraham had done before him ; and Hke him, builds an 
altar to Jehovah. Here Simeon and Levi, his elder sons, 
deceive their father, lie (as he had lied) and treacher- 
ously slay the inhabitants of Shechem. Jacob turns to 
God for guidance, and soon after removes to Ephrath 
(Bethlehem). On the way Rachel, his favourite wife, dies. 
She names her child Benoni (son of my sorrow), but 
Jacob calls him Benjamin (son of my right hand). 

Joseph the dreamer. — Rachel's first son was Jacob's 
most beloved child. He received from his father a coat 
of many colours ; he dreamed strange dreams of his su- 



82 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER's MANUAL 

premacy — and told them. His half-brothers took a cruel 
revenge ; they sold him into slavery, dipped his costly 
coat in blood and carried it to his father. The aged 
Jacob vi^as completely deceived (as his father had been), 
and in bitterness of soul cried, " I will go down to my 
grave mourning." But the God of Abraham had not 
forgotten this child of the Covenant. He kept hini pure 
in the house of Potiphar ; He promoted him in the day of 
his imprisonment ; He gave the despised " dreamer " the 
power to interpret the dreams of others, including those 
of Pharaoh. The king makes him the viceroy of all 
Egypt, and puts in his hands the securing and storing of 
food to meet the coming seven years of famine. 

Israel in Egypt.— The spreading of the famine to 
Canaan, the sons of Israel seeking to buy corn in Egypt, 
the humbling of themselves before Joseph, their self-ac- 
cusation for their far-off sin to their younger brother, 
Joseph's disclosure of himself, and his love for his guilty 
brethren, — these are the steps which led aged Israel to 
find his son Joseph in Egypt. On the journey God ap- 
pears to him and renews the covenant promises of the 
return of his descendants to Canaan, and of their na- 
tional greatness in the Land of Promise. Seventeen 
happy years the gentle patriarch spent with his children 
and grandchildren. His final benediction was prophetic. 
To Judah he gives the blessing of the first-born, " The 
sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from 
between his feet until Shiloh come." 

The Children of Israel.— The children of Israel pros- 
pered and multiplied exceedingly in Egypt ; but Joseph 
would not allow them to forget their real home. Before 
he died he made them swear that they would carry up 
his bones when they returned to the Promised Land. 
Later, a king " who knew not Joseph " reduced the chil- 
dren of Israel to slavery, and made their lives bitter and 
hopeless. If, amid the many strange gods of Egypt, 
they had forgotten Jehovah, now they remembered Him, 



THE OLD TESTAMENT 83 

for " their cry came up before God," and His cars were 
open to that cry. 

Constructive Study 

First study the gradual revelation of the Covenant, 
writing out the original promise, then what each repeti- 
tion adds to it. Gen. 12 : 1-3 ; 12:7; 15:1-18; chapter 
17; 22 : 15-18; 25 : 21-23. Next trace the gradual de- 
velopment of divine worship, writing out {a) the material 
used, (p) the method, {c) the aim in the first sacrifice, 
and each addition made to it under (a), {b) or (c). Gen. 
4: 2-4; 4: 26; 8 : 20; 12: j-'^\ 15:9; Exod. 12: 21-28. 

Did " the blood " represent the life or the death of the 
victim? Gen. 9: 3-4; Mark 10:45 ; John 10: 14-18. 

What was the patriarchal method of daily communion 
with God ? 

Contrast Abraham and Lot, Isaac and Ishmael, Esau 
and Jacob. 

When were members to enter the Old Covenant ? 

When did Christ make the New Covenant narrower ? 

Were Joseph's brethren left unpunished? Gen. 
42 : 21-23 ; 45 : 3 ; 50- I5- Reread the Scriptures of 
this period in the light of your new knowledge and make 
notes of their increased meaning. 

Preparation for the next period. — Read and picture the 
story of the next period in the following chapters : Exod. 
2 to 21, 24 to 34, 37 ; Num. 11 to 14, 16, 17, 20 to 25, 31. 
Books of Deuteronomy, Joshua (omit chap. 12 to 22), 
Judges, and Ruth. 

III. The National Covenant 

B. C. i2£o to B. C. 1030. 

In the beginning God's Covenant was largely individ- 
ual ; in the patriarchal age it was tribal. Now the tribes 
are to be bound to one another and to God as a nation. 
The period falls into three natural divisions : (a) the age 



84 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER's MANUAL 

of Moses, national organization ; [b) the age of Joshua, 
national conquest ; (c) the age of the Judges, national 
idolatry and decay. 

Moses the deliverer. — Moses was sentenced to death 
before he was born. Concealed by his pious parents, 
rescued from destruction by a daughter of Pharaoh, edu- 
cated in a royal palace " in all the wisdom of the Egyp- 
tians " — would Moses cast his lot with the oppressor, or 
the oppressed ? This was decided by his earliest instruc- 
tion ; his mother's people were his people, his mother's 
God was his God. But Moses' blood was hot. His first 
act was to rescue a Hebrew slave by slaying his oppressor. 
So for forty years God humbled and disciplined him by 
hardship in the mountains of Midian. Then God ap- 
peared in the burning bush and sent him back to deliver 
His people. 

The institution of the Passover.— The great plagues 
which Jehovah inflicted upon Pharaoh humbled that 
haughty monarch, proved the worthlessness of the gods 
of Egypt, and also strengthened the faith of Israel in the 
almighty power of Jehovah. The institution of the Pass- 
over (itself a covenant of deliverance through the blood 
of a lamb), marks the beginning of the National Cove- 
nant. God Himself pointed to this when He said of the 
Passover : " This month shall be unto you the begin- 
ning of months. It shall be the first month of the year 
to you." 

From Egyptian bondage to freedom.— The 6oo,000 
men who left Egypt were slaves, broken in body and 
will ; a mob of spiritless and cringing slaves, who, al- 
though within four days' march of Canaan, spent forty 
years on the journey, and never reached it. It was their 
children, disciplined by the rigours of the desert, who en- 
tered the Promised Land. So Jehovah led His trem- 
bling children by a pillar of cloud by day, and a pillar of 
fire by night. His mighty wind made for them a path 
through the Red Sea. His power, in the hands of Moses, 



THE OLD TESTAMENT 85 

made sweet the bitter waters of Marah, fed them with 
quails and manna in the desert of Sin, gave them water 
from the rock in Horeb, and deHvered them from the 
Amalekites at Rephidim. Yet at every stage the spirit- 
less slaves cried out with fear, or threatened to stone 
their deliverer. 

The National Covenant and its obligations.— In the 
third month the host reached Mount Sinai, and here they 
remained for over a year, under moral and rehgious 
training. First, God called Moses into the Mount and 
revealed to him His plans. Then Moses prepared the 
people to meet God. But when God spoke out of the 
clouds with thunder and fire, they were terrified, fled 
away and begged Moses to bring God's words to them. 
Yet, when Moses remained in the Mount for forty days, 
they forgot their terror, forgot their God, and worshipped 
a calf! Moses in righteous anger broke the divinely 
graven tables of stone, ordered the destruction of 3,CK)0 
idolaters, and then interceded with God for the others, 
offering to be destroyed himself if only the people were 
pardoned. Moses wrote the Ten Commandments and 
God's other words to them in a book, called the elders 
together, offered a covenant sacrifice to God, and then 
read to all the people " The Book of the Covenant," 
which they solemnly ratified and confirmed. 

The National Church.— By divine command Moses 
built the Tabernacle, a movable temple, to be the centre 
of national worship. It consisted of a great outer court, 
enclosing a sacred tent, which was divided into an outer 
" Holy Place," and an inner " Holy of HoUes." The in- 
ner room was the dwelling-place of Jehovah, and in it 
was the Ark of the Covenant, within which were the Ten 
Commandments on two tables of stone. A ministry of 
three orders was constituted, all from the tribe of Levi. 
Aaron was consecrated the high priest, his first-born to 
be his successor, his other sons being priests. The re- 
mainder of the tribe were Levites, who cared for the 



86 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER's MANUAL 

Tabernacle, and assisted the priests at the altar. The 
high priest's most important duty was on the great Day 
of Atonement to offer sacrifices for the sins of the whole 
nation, and to carry the blood into the Holy of HoHes, 
and sprinkle it before God. The sacrifices of the Taber- 
nacle were the various offerings of earlier ages, classified 
and set in order, to which was added a most important 
class, sacrifices for atonement. 

Rebellion and its penalty.— On resuming the journey 
with its desert hardships, the host again began murmur- 
ing against Moses. Even Aaron became disloyal and 
had to be rebuked by Jehovah. When the twelve men 
returned to Kadesh, from spying out the Promised Land, 
and gave their faithless report, the whole camp broke out 
in rebellion against Moses and would have stoned him 
had not Jehovah intervened. Then fell upon them the 
awful penalty of their accumulated ten rebellions against 
God. Every man of them was doomed to wander for 
forty years in the desert and die there. Only their chil- 
dren and the two faithful spies, Joshua and Caleb, should 
ever enter the Land of Promise. Yet, with the sentence 
of God still ringing in their ears, Korah and his company 
pushed a new rebellion against Moses and Aaron until 
the earth opened and swallowed them. Then the host 
turned back from the Promised Land and disappeared in 
the desert. 

The blessing and curse of Balaam.~It was thirty- 
eight years before the Israelites returned to Kadesh. 
They were a new host ; they had left their fathers' boner 
behind them, — but not their sins. Moses, now an old 
man, worn out with his forty years of terrible responsi- 
bility, spoke in anger to his rebellious host, and lost the 
joy of entering the Land of Promise. Aaron had reached 
the end of his pilgrimage and died on Mount Hor. 
Moses, after entirely defeating the armies of Sihon and 
Og, marched against Balak, who called to his aid Balaam, 
a prophet of Jehovah. Forced to bless the host he 



THE OLD TESTAMENT 8/ 

wanted to curse, and even inspired to predict in sublime 
language the coming of the Star of Jacob and the Sceptre 
of Israel, Balaam (when left to his own base desires) sug- 
gested to Balak that he entice the Israelites to join in a 
heathen festival of licentiousness, and so lose Jehovah's 
protection. The satanic suggestion cost Israel 24,000 
men. 

The vision and death of Moses.— This was preceded 
by his final effort to save his people. He recalled the 
forty years of rebellion against Jehovah, and of God's 
continued goodness and mercy to all who obeyed Him. 
He appointed Joshua his successor, pronounced upon his 
wayward flock his last blessing, and chmbed the heights 
of Mount Nebo, looked long and lovingly upon the land 
he could not enter, and laid him down alone to sleep in 
the Everlasting Arms. 

Joshua the conqueror. — Joshua and his people for thirty 
days mourned for their great lawgiver, and then pushed 
forward for the conquest of Canaan. The God of Israel 
was with him ; it was God who made a path through the 
swollen waters of the Jordan, and who filled the hearts 
of the heathen with fear. And to Him Joshua and the 
army kept their first Passover in the land of Abraham, 
Isaac and Jacob. The capture of Jericho gave Joshua 
the key to the whole land. The defeat at Ai, the fruit 
of Achan's sin, taught the army that its mission was not 
one of military might, or lawless looting, but one to pun- 
ish idolatrous wickedness. The assembUng of all the host 
in the plain between Mounts Ebal and Gerizim (where 
Abraham had built his altar and Jacob had digged his 
well) to ratify the law of the Covenant with solemn curses 
and blessings, re-dedicated the nation to God, and placed 
it under His divine guidance. 

The victory at Beth-horon.— The victory at Beth- 
horon, like all the triumphs of Joshua, was not man's vic- 
tory, but God's. He it was that reenforced the army 
with the storm-host of the clouds, so that " they were 



88 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHEr's MANUAL 

more which died from the hailstones than they whom the 
children of Israel slew." One more great battle, the de- 
feat of Jabin, and then the Land of Promise belonged to 
the children of God. Yet the foes of Israel were so scat- 
tered that Joshua spent some seven years more of warfare 
before his work was completed. 

Joshua divides the Promised Land.— Joshua divided 
the Promised Land among the twelve tribes that had con- 
quered it; for then, and always, God's land is promised 
to conquerors, never to cravens, (a) Reuben, Gad and 
the half tribe of Manasseh had already been located 
on the east side of the Jordan. (U) The southern portion 
of Canaan was given to Simeon, Judah, Benjamin and 
Dan. [c) The centre fell to Ephraim and Manasseh, 
brother-tribes of Joseph. (</) The north to Issachar, 
Zebulun, Asher and Naphtali. The tribe of Levi was 
left out of the allotment. Why ? Because being devoted 
to God's service it received tithes from all the others. 
Also to it were given four cities in each tribe. 
Warned that his end was near, Joshua summoned the 
tribes and their officers to meet him at Shechem. There 
for the last time he pleads with them to honour and obey 
Jehovah. Then the people solemnly renew the Divine 
Covenant which they had made on this same spot when 
they entered the land. Joshua erects a stone of remem- 
brance, and writes all the words of the Covenant in the 
Book of the Law of God. He had faithfully finished the 
work God gave him to do ; did he need to live longer? 

The Age of the Judges. — The Age of the Judges is one 
of national idolatry and decay. It is a divine revelation 
of man in his fallen and depraved condition. The gov- 
ernment continues to be a theocracy ; but God appointed 
no patriarchal leader, as in the time of Abraham, no in- 
spired lawgiver, as in the time of Moses, no mihtary ruler 
as in the time of Joshua. Each of the tribes was a law 
unto itself, and, worse yet, " every man did that which 
was right in his own eyes." From the day the Israelites 



THE OLD TESTAMENT 89 

left Egypt, God had governed and they had rebelled. 

Now God allows them to follow their own wills — and suf- 
fer the consequences. While they worship and obey 
God, they are prosperous ; when they turn to idolatry. 
He allows the heathen to oppress them. When they re- 
turn to God and cry for help, He raises up a hero or judge 
to deliver them. The whole Age of the Judges is made 
up of alternate periods of obedience and apostasy. 

The idolatry of the tribes.— The idolatry of the tribes 
was the inevitable result of their disloyalty to the Cov- 
enant which their fathers had solemnly renewed. After 
the death of Joshua, and of the elders who outlived him, 
the Israelites ceased to expel the scattered Canaanites. 
They made treaties with them, intermarried with them, 
went to their idolatrous festivals, began to worship their 
gods, and practice their immoral abominations. The 
story of Micah and the Danites gives a glimpse of the 
general lawlessness and idolatry. The story of the Levite 
from Mount Ephraim reveals the reign of violence, im- 
morality, and savage vengeance, out of which grew an 
inter-tribal war that almost exterminated the tribe of Ben- 
jamin. The first heathen conquest soon followed, and 
for eight years Israel was sorely distressed and cried unto 
Jehovah for deliverance. Othniel was the first deliverer, 
and during his judgeship of forty years Israel served God. 
Deborah the Prophetess, who called Barak to gather an 
army, is another judge worth remembering. It was she 
who from the top of Mount Tabor hurled the army like 
an avalanche upon the hosts of Sisera. One of the great- 
est of the deliverers was Gideon. He began by over- 
throwing his father's altar to Baal, and did not rest until 
he had overthrown the combined armies of the Midian- 
ites and Amalekites. But each heroic deliverance only 
gave opportunity for renewed idolatry. So again, and 
again, and again, for over 150 years, the story of divine 
rescue and sinful relapse is repeated. Sainson differed 
from the other judges by being called before his birth. 



90 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHERS MANUAL 

His career makes vivid that strange mixture of sanctity, 
superstition, and undisciplined passion which is charac- 
teristic of the times. 

The story of Ruth.— The story of Ruth belongs to this 
age. There is no sweeter or purer story anywhere. In 
it we see that not all heathen daughters were impure, not 
all Hebrew households faithless, not all Hebrew men ir- 
religious and passionate. The gentle, loving character of 
the Moabite maiden well fitted her to become an ancestor 
of David, and therefore of David's divine Son. 



Constructive Questions 

What are the divisions of this period ? 

State the manner of Moses' call. 

Describe how the Passover originated ; and when it 
terminated. 

What was the career and character of Miriam ? 

State the Tabernacle's influence under Moses ; under the 
Judges. 

VVhat was the career, weakness, and strength of 
Aaron ? 

Were all who served Jehovah within the Covenant ? 

Position and office of Melchizedek ? Jethro ? Balaam ? 
Deborah ? 

What are the characteristics of God's Covenant? 
(Ps. 89.) 

What bearing have Pss. y8, 105, 106 on this period? 

Tell the life-story of Joshua. 

Tell the story of Caleb, Othniel, Gideon. 

Value of sacrifices in Num. 29, Lev. 16? (Heb. 
8 to 10.) 

How many commands and promises in Josh, i : 1-9 ? 

Reread the Scriptures of this period and make notes 
of the new truths you have learned. 

Preparation for the next period. — Prepare for the next 
period by reading and picturing the two books of 



THE OLD TESTAMENT 9 1 

Samuel, the first eleven chapters of i Kings. The books 
of Samuel and Kings are the history of the Monarchy 
from the standpoint of the Prophets. The two books of 
Chronicles are a record of the same kingdom from the 
standpoint of the Priests. In connection with I Sam. 6 
read i Chron. 13, 15-16; also Pss. 68, 1 32-136. 



IV. The Hebrew Kingdom of God 

£. C. lojo to B. C. gjo 

This period may well be remembered under the fol- 
lowing heads : [a) the Age of Transition ; (^) the Es- 
tablishment of the Kingdom ; (c) the Splendour of the 
Kingdom. 

The period of the Judges seemingly did little to make 
the National Covenant a reahty. Yet, through all the 
sin, suffering, and deliverance, God reigned, and sinful 
men were slowly working out the divine will for human 
betterment. 

The Age of Transition. — Israel's greatest weakness was 
the lack of a unifying, religious inspiration and force. 
From the death of Joshua to the birth of Samuel the 
Tabernacle ceased to be what God created it to be, the 
centre of the religious hfe and inspiration of Israel. Not 
a single high priest during the whole 150 years of 
the Judges was a power for national righteousness. EH, 
high priest during the twenty years of Samson's judge- 
ship, was pious but weak. His sons were vile priests, 
who made God's House to be abhorred ; so what should 
have been the strongest bond of national unity became a 
power for disintegration and decay. But God had al- 
ready planned for better days. 

Samuel, the pure prophet.— While yet a child, Samuel 
became God's lips to announce to Eli the end of his 
office, and the doom of his family. Samuel became the 
accepted leader of the righteous. With keen prophetic 
vision he sees that God needs more prophets to rebuke 



92 

priestly misleaders and their sinful followers. Going up 
and down the land as spiritual judge and prophet, he 
selects young men of promise, sends them to Ramah, 
Bethel, Giigal, and Mizpeh ; where, under faithful prophets, 
they study the law, copy the nation's historical records, 
and from a study of God's deahngs with sinful men in the 
past, learn how to deal with present sinfulness. The 
Schools of the Prophets soon became a power for holi- 
ness throughout the whole land. From the time of 
Samuel to the days of Malachi the prophets were the 
dominant force in arousing, shaping and sustaining 
national righteousness. 

Samuel, national prophet and judge. — The crushing 
defeat of Israel, the loss of the Ark, the death of Eli, and 
the desperate condition of Church and State, aroused 
Samuel to swift action. He hurriedly summoned the 
leaders of the people to Mizpeh, denounced their idolatry, 
and made them see that it was their own sins that were 
defeating them. They repented, made a solemn covenant 
to worship God, and Him only, and gathered at God's 
altar for sacrifice. While the smoke of their offering as- 
cended toward heaven, their heathen enemies fell upon 
them. But now the Philistines found themselves fight- 
ing against Jehovah. The artillery of the clouds, and the 
furious storm-hosts of heaven, are turned against them, 
and they are utterly defeated by repentant Israel. 
Samuel is now the nation's spiritual judge and prophet, 
and remains such to the end of his days. 

The kingdom established : The first king — When 
Samuel had become old and feeble, the people said to 
him, " Give us a king." He was displeased, and answered, 
" God is your King." Later, by divine command, Samuel 
privately anointed Saul to be the first king of Israel. At 
Mizpeh the people confirmed the divine choice, and 
shouted, "■ Long live the king ! " and were satisfied. Not 
so Samuel. He took the precaution to expound to king 
and people the laws of the kingdom (Deut. 27 : 14-20), 



THE OLD TESTAMENT 93 

and to write them out and lay them up before the 
Lord. 

Saul's victories and sins.— Saul's victories and sins 
came hand in hand. When the Ammonites demanded 
the destruction of Jabesh, or the destruction of the right 
eye of every Israelite within its walls, Saul's answer was a 
hurried midnight march and an Ammonite defeat. When 
Saul was sore pressed by the PhiHstines, he begged the 
aid of Samuel. But when the prophet arrived, he found 
Saul had usurped the office of God's priesthood, and was 
offering the sacrifice, for which Samuel sternly rebuked 
him. Later, the Lord sent Saul against the Amalekites 
(Ex. 17 : 8-20). It was a punitive expedition ; every- 
thing was doomed to destruction. Yet Saul brought 
back the king, and the best of the spoils. Again Samuel 
met him, denounced his disobedience, and declared the 
end of his kingdom. 

The anointing of David.— The anointing of David fol- 
lowed a httle later. It was at Bethlehem in the house of 
Jesse, the grandson of Ruth. Samuel looked upon Eliab, 
Jesse's eldest ; but God chose the youngest, David, a 
ruddy, blue-eyed, fair-haired boy. The story of GoHath 
needs no reteUing. But the words of David may well be 
remembered, " I come to thee in the name of the Lord 
of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou 
hast defied." Saul's murderous jealousy of David dates 
from his victory over GoHath. Saul attempts to slay him 
with his own spear ; he sends David into battle to be 
killed; he tells his attendants to kill David (but Jonathan 
saves him) ; he sends officers to murder David in his bed 
(but his wife outwits them) ; and David flees to Samuel in 
Naioth. David is now a homeless and hungry wanderer, 
begging shew-bread for food, imprisoned in heathen 
Gath, or hiding in the cave of Adullam. 

David's forgiving spirit.— Hearing that the high priest 
had fed David, Saul was enraged and murdered him with 
eighty-five of God's priests, and in blind fury also 



94 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER S MANUAL 

murdered every man, woman and child in the city of Nob 
where the Tabernacle was located- Then he pursued 
David with such relentless fury that no city dared to 
shelter him. Yet, when the king fell asleep in David's 
own cave, he refused to slay Saul ; and later held before 
the king a piece cut from his royal robe when he was 
completely in David's power. For a moment the king 
was touched. Later he hotly pursued David with 3,000 
men. Again Saul slept while completely in the power 
of David, who took only his spear from beside his pillow. 
Once more the king was stirred and praised the forgiv- 
ing spirit of David. Saul's miserable death in the battle 
of Gilboa was the inevitable end of a wilful, passionate, 
and cruel life. The chief mourner was David, who with 
forgiving forgetfulness gave way to sincere grief for the 
king and for Jonathan. 

The splendour of the kingdom. — When the tribe of 
Judah anointed David its king, his first official act was to 
thank the fearless men of Jabesh for rescuing the dead 
bodies of Saul and his sons from the walls of Beth-shan. 
Later all the tribes rallied around David. The capture 
of Jerusalem marked the beginning of David's reign over 
the united nation. The act was significant. Saul had 
been content to dwell in obscure Gibeah. David's idea 
of a kingdom demanded not a tribal city, but a national 
capital. Saul had murdered the priests of Jehovah's 
Tabernacle. David built a new Tabernacle in Jerusalem, 
and brought up the Ark with rehgious rejoicing. David 
having built himself a magnificent palace, planned to 
build a splendid Temple for Jehovah. But Nathan, the 
prophet, reminded David that he was a warrior, and 
therefore unfitted, but that it should be built by his son. 

David's military conquests.— David's military con- 
quests were as great as the splendour of his new capital. 
Within ten years he subdued the Philistines, vanquished 
the king of Zobah, crushed the Moabites, defeated the 
Syrians ; and later completely crushed the power of Am- 



THE OLD TESTAMENT 95 

mon. The kingdom of David now filled the utmost 
bounds promised to the seed of Abraham. 

David's sin.— While his armies were victorious in the 
field, David, safe at home, was conquered by temptation 
and did that deed which blotted forever the fair record of 
his noble career, and robbed him of peace and happiness. 
" God sent Nathan unto David " to pronounce the pen- 
alty, " The sword shall never depart from thine house." 

The fulfillment of Nathan's prediction.— The fulfill- 
ment of Nathan's prediction followed fast upon his words. 
Tamar's dishonour, Amnon's crime, Absalom's murder 
of his half-brother, followed by his own open rebeUion 
against his father and king, — these calamities crowded 
so quickly into David's household that, almost before he 
realised it, the humiliated king found himself a fugitive, 
fleeing from Jerusalem. Then came the death of the 
usurper, fairest and most wicked of David's sons ; the 
king's grief was deepened and embittered by the knowl- 
edge that his own sin was the wicked root from which 
all this misery had sprung. Three of the king's sons had 
died violent deaths, yet the fourth, Adonijah, follows in 
their footsteps, and even draws the high priest into his 
conspiracy against the king. Then prophetic power 
suddenly appears. Nathan anoints Solomon David's 
successor, and the great and sorely-tried king, full of 
years, riches and honours, sees Solomon securely seated 
on the throne before he is gathered to his people. 

King Solomon's reign.— King Solomon's reign begins 
with a second conspiracy headed by Adonijah. This 
Solomon crushes with a firm, unrelenting severity. Yet 
the new king is humbled and awed by the greatness of 
his office ; and when in a dream God bids him ask for 
whatever he desires, he does not pray for riches, honours, 
a long life, or the destruction of his enemies, but for " a 
wise and understanding heart," that he may justly rule his 
people. And God gave him all, and more than he asked. 

The building of the Temple.— The building of the 



96 THE SUNDAV-SCHOOL TEACHER's MANUAL 

Temple was the great work of Solomon's reign. Thirty 
thousand IsraeHtes felled the trees in the mountains of 
Lebanon, 70,000 labourers moved the materials, and 
80,000 Canaanitish slaves worked in the quarries. Three 
years were spent in perfecting the materials that no sound 
of chisel or hammer should be heard in the sacred 
building. When every beam was ready, every stone 
fitted for its place, then " like some tall palm the noiseless 
fabric sprang." The plan of the Temple was that of the 
Tabernacle, only larger, richer, more magnificent. The 
walls of the Holy of HoHes were covered with pure gold. 
In it was the sacred Ark with the tables of stone contain- 
ing the Ten Commandments. Seven years was the 
Temple building, and then was dedicated with great 
splendour. 

Riches and honours and -wisdom are Solomon's. — 
Under him David's kingdom became an empire, and a 
world power. Commercial wealth poured into Jerusalem 
until silver was almost as plentiful as stone. Ancient 
prophecy becomes silent ; and " Wisdom " seems to take 
its place. As David was the poet, so Solomon is the 
philosopher of Israel. The proverbial wisdom of the 
Orient centres in his name. He wrote 3,000 proverbs, a 
small part of which survive in the Book of Proverbs ; 
composed over 1,000 songs, of which only the " Song of 
Songs " remains ; and was an authority in botanical 
science, " from the cedar of Lebanon, to the hyssop that 
springeth out of the wall." 

The sins of Solomon.— Vast power and wealth brought 
to Solomon what they bring to all, great temptation. 
Beneath the Oriental splendour was spiritual decay. Like 
all Oriental kings he was surrounded by foreign wives, 
Moabites, Ammonites and Edomites, and " they turned 
away his heart " from the God of his fathers. Even in 
the Holy City were erected altars to Baal and Ashtoreth 
and Moloch. Solomon's magnificent palaces, poHtical 
power, enormous wealth, and intellectual wisdom could 



THE OLD TESTAMENT 97 

not fulfill the great spiritual promise of the beginning of 
his reign. At its end, in sorrow and bitterness, he wrote 
his life, — a failure. (Eccl. i : 12-18.) 

Constructive Review 

What are the divisions of this period ? 

Compare the careers and characters of Samson and 
Samuel. 

In what were Eli and Samuel unlike and alike ? 

Tell the story of the Ark from EH to Solomon. 

What was the relation of Jabesh to Saul's and David's 
careers ? 

Describe Saul's last days and character. 

Why was he to destroy the Amalekites? 

Give a word-picture of Samuel at Bethlehem. 

David and the shew-bread, how used by Christ ? 

Give a picture story of David and Jonathan. 

Bound the kingdom of David. 

Locate the most important cities. 

What was the site of the Temple ? Why ? 

Tell the story of its erection. 

What parts of it reproduced the Tabernacle ? 

Quote from Ecclesiastes its author's condemnation. 

Preparation for the next period. — To prepare for the 
next period finish reading i and 2 Kings (with I Kings 
15, read 2 Chron. 13; with 2 Kings 21, read 2 Chron. 
33). Read Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther and Daniel. (Omit 
the four greater prophets and Zechariah.) Read each 
minor prophet in connection with his appearance in the 
historical books. Read to get a living picture of the 
period's religious life. 

V. The DECLiNE~bF Monarchy and the Rise of 
Prophecy 

B. C. g30 to B. C. 433 

As political history this entire epoch is of small im- 
portance. It is in its religious aspect, in its development 



98 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER's MANUAL 

of prophetic authority, in its wonderful Messianic visions 
of a new covenant, and a new kingdom of God, that 
this period finds its supreme importance for Judaism, and 
for Christianity. Our divisions are: (^) the Rending of 
the Kingdom ; [b) the Clash of PoHtical and Prophetic 
Authority; {c) Israel's Doom and Judah's Exile; (d) the 
Prophets of the Captivity and Return. 

The rending of the kingdom. — The rending of the 
kingdom was the result of the new king's folly. Before 
Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, was fairly seated on the 
throne, his people petitioned for a reduction of taxes. His 
proud reply was, " My father chastised you with whips, 
I will chastise you with scorpions." Instantly arose the 
cry, " To thy tents, O Israel!" Ten tribes were ready 
for revolt. Yet so blind was the king to his own folly 
that he sent out his chief collector to levy the old taxes. 
But " all Israel stoned him with stones." 

Kings propose and God disposes.— Rehoboam hur- 
riedly raises an immense army to crush the northern 
tribes. But Shemaiah the prophet promptly goes to the 
king, and in Jehovah's name forbids civil war. Jeroboam 
is king of the ten tribes. To keep his people from the 
Temple, he sets up two calves of gold, appoints a new 
priesthood, and calls his people to idolatrous worship. 
In the act of offering incense he is suddenly faced by a 
prophet of Jehovah who denounces his apostasy. In 
bhnd rage the king attempts to seize the fearless messen- 
ger, but his arm falls paralysed, and his altar is rent in 
pieces. Kings might be wicked and priests weak, but 
God does not lack a fearless prophet. From the death 
of Solomon to the end of Hebrew Scripture, the domi- 
nant power, and the one that makes for righteousness, is 
the power of the prophets of Jehovah. 

Idolatry and civil war.— Idolatry and civil war cover 
the next sixty years' history of both Judah and Israel. 
In Judah Rehoboam worshipped Jehovah for a time, and 
then with his foreign wives worshipped idols. His son^ 



THE OLD TESTAMENT 99 

Abijah, made war upon Israel. His grandson, Asa, be- 
gan a thorough reform and restored the worship of Je- 
hovah. Later he made an aUiance with the heathen king 
of Syria. When for this he was rebuked by Hanani he 
replied, Throw the prophet into prison. Yet he was 
the best of Judah's rulers. During the same period 
Israel had six rulers, each worse than his predecessor. 

The clash of political and prophetic authority. — 
Ahab, king of Israel, married Jezebel, the she-wolf of 
Tyre. At her palace gate stood the temple of Baal ; at 
her table 850 idolatrous prophets were fed. The out- 
lawed prophets of Jehovah were hiding in dens and caves. 
Jezebel determines that the worship of Jehovah shall be- 
come extinct. At once the incarnate spirit of Hebrew 
prophecy springs to meet the challenge of heathenism. 
Suddenly before Ahab stands the startling figure of 
Elijah, crying, ** As the Lord God of Israel Hveth, before 
whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these 
years, but according to my word." 

The Lord God, or Baal ?— Springs and rivers are dry- 
ing up, yet Elijah is miraculously fed beside the brook 
Cherith. Hunger and death are entering every city, but 
the poor widow who welcomed the prophet finds her 
meal and oil mysteriously replenished. When the 
drought is at its worst, and Ahab himself is searching 
all his kingdom for water, Elijah again faces him, de- 
nounces his sins, and demands to be confronted by the 
prophets of Baal. Ahab, always halting between Jeho- 
vah and Baal, dares not refuse. Then follows that won- 
derful scene at Mount Carmel, the one prophet of God 
defying and mocking 450 prophets of Baal. When the 
Lord answers Elijah's prayer by fire, the assembled thou- 
sands shout, '* Jehovah, He is God ! Jehovah, He is 
God ! " Baal's false prophets are slain, and the famish- 
ing ground hears the sound of abundant rain. 

Elijah at Mount Horeb.— The prophet has triumphed ; 
the man is exhausted, and desires to die. Jehovah guides 



100 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHERS MANUAL 

Elijah to Horeb. After a mighty wind, an earthquake, 
and fire, EHjah hears the still small voice of God : 
"Anoint Hazael to be king over Syria, Jehu to be king 
over Israel, and Elisha to be prophet in thy room." 
Nothing could better proclaim the position of the prophet. 
He is the mouth of the unseen God, he is the executive 
of that invisible theocracy which still rules all earthly 
rulers. The whole history of the kingdom of Israel, 
from this hour to the hour of its doom, is simply an ex- 
tended record of the command at Horeb. Syria has 
been appointed to destroy idolatrous Israel. In vain 
Judah unites with Israel for the battle. In vain Ahab's 
lying prophets assure him of victory. Michaiah, true 
prophet of Jehovah, tells the king he goes to his death. 
In vain Ahab thrusts the truth-teller into prison, and 
then disguises himself for the battle. The arrow, shot 
** at a venture," finds the joints of his breast-plate ; and 
his blood reddens the pool he had stained with the blood 
of Naboth and his sons. 

Elisha and the house of Ahab. — It must needs be 
" that he that escapeth the sword of Hazael shall Jehu 
slay; and him that escapeth the sword of Jehu shall 
Elisha slay." A messenger of Elisha unexpectedly ap- 
pears in the army and anoints Jehu king of Israel, and 
avenger of the prophets. Very furious is the driving of 
Jehu, for it symbolises the rush of doom upon the palace 
of Jezreel. Joram, grandson of Ahab, is killed and his 
body flung into the vineyard of Naboth. Jezebel, a 
defiant she-wolf to the last, is thrown by her own serv- 
ants from her palace window ; and the word of Elijah is 
fulfilled : ♦* The dogs shall eat the flesh of Jezebel by 
the \vall of Jezreel." 

The doom of Israel. — Jehu's zeal was intense ; but 
brief. Over nearly every one of the nine kings that fol- 
low him the inspired epitaph is written : " He cleaved unto 
the sins of Jeroboam, who made Israel to sin." The 
words of Elijah and Elisha, of Jonah and Amos, of 



THE OLD TESTAMENT lOI 

Hosea and Micah, fall upon heedless ears ; therefore God 
gives them up to their own destruction. Israel is crushed 
by the great empires of Assyria and Babylonia ; and 
driven from the Holy Land it has forfeited, disappears 
forever. 

The -w^eak kings and strong prophets of Judah.— 
Weaker than Israel in everything except its loyalty to 
Jehovah, Judah survived the Northern Kingdom for 130 
years. Yet the faithfulness of Judah was spasmodic only. 
The rulers who served God are fewer than those who 
served Baal. Jehoshaphat began as a great reformer, but 
his aUiance with idolatrous Ahab proved his own undoing, 
and that of his three immediate successors. The history 
of the next four kings (Joash, Amaziah, Uzziah and 
Jotham) is morally identical. All began with loyalty to 
Jehovah and ended in idolatry. Yet it was during this 
period that the great prophets, Isaiah and Micah, were 
the nation's spiritual counsellors, and the inspirers of the 
Messianic Hope. 

Judah's fall and exile. — King Hezekiah was the son of 
Ahaz (a worshipper of Baal, and an offerer of human sacri- 
fices). Yet he was one of the best of Judah's rulers. His 
reign was a reformation. Guided by the prophet Isaiah, 
he defies Assyria's great king, Sennacherib, and his in- 
vading army is defeated by a pestilence. Of the seven 
reigns that followed, every one was a new degradation, save 
that of Josiah, who '' sought the Lord with all his heart." 
In rebuilding the Temple he discovered the Book of the 
Law (Deuteronomy), which, under his guidance, wrought 
a reformation throughout the land, lasting during his 
lifetime. The wickedness of his successors hurried the na- 
tion to its doom ; and in b. c. 586 Jerusalem was destroyed 
and its people driven into captivity at Babylon. Yet Ju- 
dah, unhke Israel, went out neither hopeless nor godless. 
A faithful remnant believed the words of the prophets 
that Jehovah would restore to them all that they had lost. 

The prophets of the captivity, and return. — The 



102 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHERS MANUAL 

apostasy of the Ten Tribes was their end. They were 
lost among the heathen whose gods they worshipped. 
There was sufficient faith left among the exiles of Judah 
to save them from a like fate. There was a faithful rem- 
nant who hstened to their prophets and teachers. They 
studied God's law, they kept their Sabbaths. Having no 
Temple, they built synagogues for instruction and wor- 
ship. Their sacred books grew more sacred in their 
exile. Their prophets had foretold their captivity, and, 
behold, it had come to pass. Their prophets had also 
predicted a restoration, and they believed their predic- 
tion. Their prophets had also foretold the coming of a 
great kingdom and a glorious king ; the faithful clung to 
these precious predictions, and so were kept from heathen 
contamination and national extinction. 

Daniel the prophet.— Daniel was a prominent leader 
during the exile. His purity, devotion, wisdom, interpre- 
tation of dreams, and civic promotion recall the story of 
Joseph ; but he was called to face greater temptations 
than the son of Jacob. The story of Esther and Morde- 
cai also belongs to this period. And in the details of 
both books we have a vivid picture of the condition of 
the exiles, and the difficulty of being loyal to Jehovah. 

The return of the exiles.— The return of the exiles was 
seventy years after the destruction of Jerusalem. Cyrus 
gave them permission to carry out their supreme desire, 
the rebuilding of the Temple, and restored to them its 
sacred vessels. Comparatively few (perhaps 80,000 in all) 
returned under Zerubbabel and Jeshua, hereditary king 
and high priest. They were hindered, and even stopped, 
in building the Temple, by the Samaritans, whose offer 
of help they had refused. But the prophets Haggai and 
Zechariah encouraged the people, and after twenty years 
of struggle God's house was completed and dedicated 
amid great rejoicing. 

Ezra.— Ezra with another company of about 6,000 
exiles arrived over seventy years later. He found among 



THE OLD TESTAMENT IO3 

the new generation much to reform in rehgion, and much 
that was needed for personal and poHtical safety. Nehe- 
miah, the cup-bearer of the Persian king, Hke Daniel, was 
a noble and devoted Hebrew, with great influence at 
court. Through him Ezra appealed for permission to re- 
build the walls of Jerusalem. This was granted, and 
Nehemiah was made governor of the city. His activity 
and wisdom were irresistible. With a tool in one hand, 
and a sword in the other, the builders worked with cease- 
less energy ; and in less than two months the walls en- 
closed the city. 

Nehemiah.— Nehemiah having provided for the safety 
of God's Temple and the defense of the city, began with 
Hke zeal to correct social and rehgious abuses. Those 
who had kept the faith in exile were dead, their children 
had degenerated. The rich were grinding the poor : 
Nehemiah abolished usury between Jew and Jew. The 
Church, the centre of their religion, was neglected ; he 
established the Temple tax. Heathen customs were 
creeping in ; he stopped intermarriage with idolaters, 
and reestablished Sabbath observance. Then having 
brought the people solemnly to renew their Covenant 
with Jehovah, on the basis of the Church and the written 
law, he returned to Persia. After nine years' absence 
Nehemiah came back to Jerusalem. He found the 
city filled with the old evils. He rebuked the nobles, 
again stopped Sabbath traffic, deposed the high priest 
for his laxity and evil example, and again purified the 
Temple. After about ten years spent in abolishing nine 
years' growth of abuses, Nehemiah again returns to 
Persia, b. c. 433, and with his departure the historical 
records of the Old Covenant come to an end. 

Measured by human righteousness (the end of all 
religion), the written law has failed to save man from 
sin, the kingdom has failed to restrain man from sin, 
the Church and its sacrifices have failed to make men 
holy ; what is left to Judaism on which to build its hope ? 



104 the sunday-school teachers manual 

Constructive Questions 

What are the divisions of this period ? 
From whom was the kingdom? (i Sam. 8: 6-9; 
12: 16-19; I Kings 12: 24.) 
Is a prophet obliged \.o speak? (i Kings 13 : 1-32.) 
On what conditions was Jeroboam king? (i Kings 

11:38.) 

Was Jeroboam true to them ? (i Kings 14 : 1-16.) 

What was the story of Naboth's vineyard ? 

How did EHjah's career end? 

Between whom was the real conflict of this epoch ? 

Were God's prophets always beHeved ? (2 Kings 7.) 

Were God's prophets exclusively iox Israel? (i Kings 
17; 2 Kings 5.) 

What was Christ's purpose in using these incidents ? 

Tell the story of the High Priest Jehoiada and Joash. 

Picture the story of Hezekiah and Isaiah. 

What was Judah's idolatry at the worst ? (2 Kings 21.) 

Tell the story of Josiah's finding the Law. 

What did idolatrous Judah receive from the idolatrous 
conquerors of Jerusalem ? 

Why the bitterness between Jews and Samaritans ? 
(Ezra 4 ; Neh. 4.) 

Tell the story of the first adult Bible class. (Neh. 8.) 

Preparation for the next period. — For the next 
period read the Messianic passages in Gen. 49 : 10 ; 
Num. 24: 15-19; 2 Sam. 7 and 23: 1-8 ; Pss. 2, 18, 
22, 72, no; Amos 9: 8-15; Hos. 3 : 4-5 ; 2:19-20; 
Mic. 4 and 5; Isa. 7 to 9: 7; ii: i-io; 16: 5; 
Jer. 3: 14-19; 23: 1-8; 33: 14-22; Ezek. 34:20-31; 
36: 23-28; 37: 21-28; Zech. 3: 8-10; 6: 9-15; 
9: 9-10; 14: 16-21 ; Mai. I : 6-11 ; Isa. 40 to 60. It 
will be more helpful to read from the Revised Version. 
Remember these prophecies were written over 250 years 
after David, and from 800 to 550 years before Christ. 
Therefore, read with an eye to their spiritual meaning. 



THE OLD TESTAMENT IO5 

VI. The Messianic Kingdom of God 

We have finished our study of the historic facts of the 
Old Covenant. But there are some things more im- 
portant than historic facts ; namely, the personal forces, 
human and divine, which create the facts. It is the ideas 
and ideals, the faith and hope, of a race that make its 
history. We cannot understand the meaning of the Old 
Covenant, we cannot understand the meaning of the New 
Covenant, unless we know something of the great ideals 
and hopes which shaped the highest life of the Hebrew 
people. Our final study is on the historic development 
of the Messianic Hope. Our divisions are : (a) the Per- 
petuity of the Covenant ; {b) the Gradual Revelation of 
the Messianic King ; {c) the Final Revelation of the 
Messianic Sufferer. 

The perpetuity of the Covenant. — Looking back 
upon our studies as a whole, you cannot fail to note that 
the Hebrew people were religiously separated from, and 
lifted above all contemporary races by their peculiar re- 
lation to their God. This relationship finds its founda- 
tion in the Covenant which Jehovah made with their 
righteous ancestors, and which is to last forever. The 
sin of any man, or generation of men, cannot break 
God's Covenant; it brings suffering or death to the 
covenant breakers. Even though the greater part of the 
nation may become disobedient and apostate (as in the 
Wilderness, and again before the Captivity), yet Jehovah 
cannot break the oath which He sware unto Abraham. 
The sinners perish, but the Covenant remains to guard 
and bless the righteous remnant, no matter how small 
it may be. This indestructibility of God's Covenant is 
the foundation in all prophetic teaching. 

The work of the prophet.— The work of the prophet 
was, first of all, to preach righteousness to his own age. 
This fact becomes particularly prominent in the Hfe of 
Samuel and the life of Nathan, of Elijah and Elisha. 



I06 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER's MANUAL 

The prophet is the man of the hour, sent from God to 
meet the moral emergencies of the hour. His words 
spring out of the present, are addressed to the present, 
and are expressed in a language understood by the 
present. Therefore, because he is inspired to see and 
understand the divine will in the present, he also has the 
spiritual i^isight to foresee the results of the same will 
working in the future. For this reason the real key to 
the Messianic predictions of each prophet is to be found 
in the historic conditions of the age in which he uttered 
them. 

The Messianic Hope of Israel.— The Messianic Hope 
of Israel is older than the time of the prophets. It 
began with Jehovah's prediction of the moral victory 
of the seed of the woman. It became more definite in 
Jehovah's promise that in Abraham's seed all viankind 
should be blessed (Mic. 7 : 20). It pointed, in Jacob's 
blessing upon Judah, to a definite time. It found, in 
Balaam's " Star out of Jacob," a definite dominion. These 
different phases of an early, indistinct, and yet a real, spirit- 
ual hope the later prophets inherited and built upon. 

The gradual revelation of the Messianic King. — The 
reign of David gave Hfe and vividness to the hope of a 
Messianic Kingdom of God which no later national 
calamities could efface. David himself was conscious 
of his exalted vocation (Ps. 18; 2 Sam. 23: 1-8). The 
words of the prophet Nathan (2 Sam. 7) predict the 
perpetuity of David's theocratic throne and clothe his 
seed with the dignity of a divine sonship. For 300 years 
before the great prophets David's reign was regarded as 
the golden age of Hebrew history, which was to be re- 
produced in the Messianic Kingdom (Pss. 2, 45, 72 and 
90). It was amid the civil wars of the divided monarchy, 
in the days of defeat by the heathen, when the vast 
empire of Assyria threatened the extinction of the race, 
that Hebrew faith clung most closely to Jehovah's 
Covenant with Abraham and David. 



THE OLD TESTAMENT IO7 

Amos.— Amos (b. c. 760) of the kingdom of Israel, is 
the earhest to record his predictions ; but presents only 
a dim picture (9 : 8-15). The day of Jehovah, a day of 
trial and judgment, will come; then the Tabernacle of 
David will be reerected for a reunited kingdom. Then 
Israel is to rule over the Gentiles. 

Hosea.— Hosea (b. c. 740), also of Israel, makes the 
first definite prediction of a Messianic Rule, under the 
figure of David (3:5); i- e-, a prince of David's Hne, and 
a man after God's own heart. He lays special stress 
on the spirituality of the bond between Jehovah and His 
people, a bond founded on righteousness, faithfulness, and 
love (2: 19-20). 

Micah.— Micah (b. c. 735) gives us a fuller picture of 
the Messianic Age (Chaps. 4 and 5). After Jehovah has 
purified His people, the House of God will be established 
above the hills. A new Jerusalem, on a new Mount 
Zion, will draw to it the Gentiles^ that they may discover 
the secret of Israel's prosperity. Wars shall cease, na- 
tions shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their 
spears into pruning-hooks ; the vine, fig-tree, and peace 
shall flourish, and the perfect theocracy shall be a reality. 
The afflicted remnant of Israel shall become a strong 
nation, and Jehovah Himself shall reign over it in Mount 
Zion, forever. An anointed king of David's line shall be 
born in Bethlehem, and shall sit upon the throne of Da- 
vid. He shall shepherd His people and protect them 
from their foes; and there shall perpetuate peace and 
prosperity. The prophet makes no attempt to harmo- 
nise the seemingly contradictory visions of the reign of 
Jehovah and of the Bethlehem Shepherd. 

Isaiah.—Isaiah (b. c. 737) was Micah's great contempo- 
rary in the Southern Kingdom. His text is, " A remnant 
shall return" ; i. e., the holy seed of Israel shall survive 
all calamities and eventually constitute a pure nation. 
His predictions of the Messiah and His age surpass in 
fullness and vividness those of all other prophets. The 



I08 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER's MANUAL 

Immanuel prediction (Chaps. 7 : 1-9 : 7), uttered in the 
reign of Ahaz, a period of idolatry, oppression and an- 
arcliy, presents a marvellous portrait of a Messianic child ; 
Prince of the House of David, a superhuman Counsellor, 
Godlike in power, an everlasting Father, the Prince of 
Peace, i. e., one v^ho banishes war and begins a period of 
perpetual peace and prosperity. During the Assyrian 
invasion, with its terror and despair, Isaiah gives us a 
detailed picture of the Messianic King (i i : i-io). He is 
of the seed of Jesse, but possesses the spirit of Jehovah 
and a superhuman wisdom. His guiding principles are 
righteousness and faithfulness (32 : 1-4). He is a bene- 
factor of the poor and a represser of evil-doers. His is an 
ideal age, of universal peace, when the kingdom of Jeho- 
vah fills the earth, even as the waters cover the sea. 
Prophesying against Moab (16:5), Isaiah presents the 
Messiah as a royal judge, seeking judgment and swift to 
pronounce righteousness. 

Jeremiah.— Jeremiah (b. c. 627) lived in the fearful 
times when Judah was hastening to its doom. He ve- 
hemently insists (3:14-15) that a righteous remnant 
shall be saved, and return, and flourish under a Messianic 
King of the hne of David. He connects (31 : 31-34) 
Messiah's reign with the establishment of a New Cove- 
nant, written not on tablets of stone but inscribed on the 
hearts of His people. He pictures the Messianic King 
(23 : 5-8 and 33 : 14-26) as a holy Branch springing from 
the roots of a fallen tree. His name is " Jehovah our 
Righteousness." 

Ezekiel.— Ezekiel (b. c. 592-570), in the mournful days 
of the exile, reiterates (34 : 24 and 37 : 24-28) the prophecy 
that in Messianic times Jehovah shall be Israel's God, 
and that His Servant (a Davidic Prince) shall dwell among 
them, and be the Shepherd of His people. He also em- 
phasises the establishment of the New Covenant (see 
Jeremiah). It is an everlasting Covenant of peace 
(36:25-26). Jehovah will take away the stony heart 



THE OLD TESTAMENT IO9 

of His people, and give them a new heart, and a new 
spirit. His Tabernacle shall be in their midst. He will 
also sprinkle them with pure water and they shall be 
clean. 

Zechariah.— Zechariah (b. c. 5 20-5 1 6), who prophesied 
after the return from exile, uses Jeremiah's figure of the 
branch in speaking of the Messianic King (3 : 8-10 and 
6- 9-15)- The second passage is obscure, but points to 
one who is to unite in Himself the office of king and 
priest. The Messiah is pictured (9:9-10) as righteous 
and victorious ; lowly and riding upon an ass, even upon 
a colt, the foal of an ass. Its close (14: 16-21) predicts 
the salvation of a Gentile " remnant " out of all nations. 

Malachi.— Malachi (b. c. 440) writes during the Per- 
sian period, and his message presents the striking figure 
of a Hebrew prophet (i : 6-1 1) condemning the worship 
of his own people, while praising that of the Gentiles. A 
day of judgment therefore is coming to Israel, when Je- 
hovah will come to His Temple in the person of the 
Messenger of the Covenant, and He shall judge between 
the righteous and the wicked. 

The Psalms.— The Psalms (b. c. 1060-400) record 
some of the Messianic visions of the inspired poets and 
singers of Israel. They should be compared with the 
visions of Israel's inspired prophets. In particular com- 
pare Pss. 2, 18, 22, 72 and no. The universality of the 
Messianic Kingdom is more prominent in the Psalms 
than in some of the prophetic books. 

The final revelation of the Messianic Sufferer. — We 
have already considered the prophets' composite picture 
of Messiah the King ; it now remains to consider the last 
chapters of Isaiah (40-66) which, with wonderful beauty 
and marvellous minuteness of detail, paint a picture of the 
suffering " Servant of Jehovah." This Servant is anointed 
Prophet of the Lord (61 : i). He is the founder of the 
New Covenant (42 : 5-7) between Jehovah and His peo- 
ple. (Predicted by Jeremiah.) His mission is " to preach 



no THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHERS MANUAL 

good tidings to the meek," " to bind up the broken- 
hearted " (6i : 1-3 and 40 : 1-2). His tender sympathy- 
marks His every action. " He sustains the weary with a 
word" (50: 4); a bruised reed shall He not break, and a 
dimly-burning wick shall He not quench (42 : 3). His 
mercies are not for His own people alone. To Him Je- 
hovah says, " I will give Thee for a light to the Gentiles 
. . . unto the ends of the earth " (49 : 6 and 42 : 6). 

So great a work as His can be accomplished only 
through suffering. Yet He is greeted, not with renown, 
but with scorn and contempt. He, as none other, drank 
suffering to its dregs. His is the pain of isolation, the 
agony of misinterpreted sympathy, and the mocking re- 
jection of love and tenderness (53 : 3). Finally He gives 
Himself up to cruelty and condemnation, being num- 
bered with transgressors, and submitting to the shameful 
death of a malefactor (5 3 : 7-9). But His death is a guilt- 
offering (53:10). His loving self-sacrifice is vicarious ; 
it accomplishes the supreme purpose of His life; He 
looks back and is satisfied. He has fulfilled the will of 
Jehovah to the uttermost (53 : 10-12). 

John the Baptist. — In connection with the above 
prophecies, compare the words of the last Hebrew 
prophet, John the Baptist, who preached saying, " Repent 
ye for the kingdom of the Messiah is at hand ! Bring 
forth fruit worthy of repentance. Think not we have 
Abraham to our father, for God is able of these stones to 
raise up children unto Abraham. I indeed baptise you 
with water unto repentance ; but He that cometh after 
me shall baptise you with the Holy Ghost and with fire." 
To expectant priests and Levites from the Temple he 
said, I am not the Messiah, I am not Elijah, I am the 
voice of one crying in the wilderness. Make ye ready 
the highway of Jehovah, as said Isaiah the prophet. 
John, seeing Jesus of Nazareth, said, " Behold the Lamb 
of God that taketh away the sin of the world." " I 
knew Him not ; but He that sent me said, Upon whom 



THE OLD TESTAMENT III 

thou shalt see the Spirit descending, the same is He that 
baptiseth with the Holy Spirit. And I have seen ; I 
bear witness that this is the Son of God," the Messiah. 

Constructive Review 

Divisions of this epoch ? 

What says St. Paul of the Covenant's perpetuity? 
(Gal. 3.) 

A prophet's relation to his age ? King ? The future ? 

Trace (from our textual references) the unfolding of 
the Messianic Hope. 

Show from the textual references of this period that 
the kingdom of the Messiah must be (a) universal not 
national, {d) spiritual (not poHtical, or carnal), under a 
divine Redeemer (not a royal conqueror). 

Reproduce, in the words of the Prophetic Scriptures, 
Christ's teaching on the road to Emmaus concerning the 
Suffering Messiah (St. Luke 24 : 25-27). When com- 
pleted, compare it with all the Old Testament Scriptures 
appointed for Holy Week. 

The Records of the Old Covenant 

To understand Holy Scripture we must remember : 

{a) The Bible, like every other book, is literature. 
It takes the form of history and poetry ; the form of 
ethical and theological essays ; the form of song and 
proverb and parable. 

{p) The form of any part of revelation must not be 
confounded with the substance of revelation. The 
Psalms are no less true because they are poetry, and the 
words of Christ are no less true when they take the form 
of parables. The fact that parts of the Pentateuch are 
not written in historical /^r;;^ no more impairs their in- 
spired truth than the unhistorical form of all the Psalms 
destroys their inspired truth. 

(c) No one can say that a^iything is " true," or is 



112 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHERS MANUAL 

" untrue," unless he measures it by its own standard of 
truth. Cloth must be measured by the standard yard, 
pictures by the standards of painting, and architecture 
by the standards of architecture. The Bible as literature 
must be measured by literary standards, and the Bible 
as religion must be measured by religious standards. 

{d) There is one, and only one, standard of religious 
truth, that is Jesus Christ. The teaching of the Penta- 
teuch on the essentials of religion (the person of God, 
the nature of man, man's relation to God, man's moral 
responsibility, the nature and effects of sin) is in perfect 
harmony with the teaching of Jesus Christ. The Penta- 
teuch is a partial, the Gospel the fiUed-full, revelation. 
The Pentateuch as a revelation of religious truth, will 
continue to be true so long as we accept Jesus Christ as 
the standard of religious truth. 

The Pentateuch 

The first " five books " of the Bible are ascribed to 
Moses by all tradition, Christian, Jewish, and heathen ; 
and are so quoted by the authors of later sacred writ- 
ings. 

G-enesis.— Genesis, the " Beginning," covers the re- 
ligious history of the Chosen People for a longer period 
than is covered by all the other books of the Old Testa- 
ment. It records the beginnings : of the world and 
man ; of sin ; of the Divine Covenant, that one should 
come to conquer sin ; and of man's covenant worship. 
It records the deluge, and the dispersion ; the call of 
Abraham, and the Patriarchal Covenant to the death of 
Joseph. The whole Bible is simply the development of 
the beginnings of Genesis. 

Exodus.— Exodus, the " Going Out," of the Israelites 
from Egyptian bondage, records God's mighty power in 
humiliating Egypt and its gods, in delivering, defending, 
and organising His covenant-people. Its great subject 



THE OLD TESTAMENT II3 

is tJie making of a theocratic nation^ through (a) its call, 
ib) its covenant-constitution, and (c) consecration and 
government by Jehovah, through His great servant 
Moses. The Mosaic code of moral and civil law here 
recorded is the basis of the laws of all civilised coun- 
tries. 

Leviticus.— Leviticus is the natural continuation of 
Exodus. There we saw a God-created nation in the 
process of organisation. Here we see the same nation 
in the process of religious discipline and moral govern- 
ment. Because it is a theocracy, nothing is apart from 
God, and its moral and rehgious administration centres 
in its worship. Church and State meet at the altar; 
and there divine law (which covers both) is administered. 
Leviticus therefore is the book of common worship for 
the nation. 

Numbers.— Numbers records the " numbering " of the 
people at the beginning and at the end of the Wilder- 
ness wanderings, and all that occurred between ; /. e., 
{a) the religious and military arrangements for the march 
toward Canaan ; {p) continuous murmurings against 
God, and mutinies against Moses ; {c) condemnation of 
the rebels to die in the desert ; (d) death of Aaron and 
Miriam. 

Deuteronomy.— Deuteronomy records the " repetition " 
and summing up of the Law by the greatest of all law- 
givers, Moses. Himself about to die, he faces those 
whose fathers had perished in the desert because of their 
sins, and in three solemn and splendid orations pictures 
to the young men before him the curse of a disloyal 
past, and the blessings of loyalty to Jehovah. 



The Historical Books 

Joshua.— Joshua (i. e., God's Deliverer) is believed to 
have been written by him whose name it bears. A great 
general, and a moral hero, an absolutely loyal servant 



114 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHERS MANUAL 

of Jehovah, the career of Joshua is that of an ideal 
soldier of God. The divisions of the book are, (<;?) the 
seven years' war and conquest of Canaan ; (J?) allotment 
of the land to the different tribes ; (c) settlement of the 
Tabernacle at Shiloh ; (d) Joshua's final words of en- 
treaty and admonition. 

Judges.— Judges covers a confused period of about 
150 to 200 years. Its authorship is uncertain, but is 
ascribed to Samuel. It continues the history of the 
book of Joshua ; but whereas that volume is a record 
of moral heroism, this one is the register of moral deg- 
radation. Every man did that which was right in his 
own eyeSy regardless of duty to God or man. The re- 
sult was religious, civil and political anarchy. It 
registers the deeds of thirteen judges, closing with 
Samson and Samuel, the latter the first of the pro- 
phetic judges of the future. 

Ruth.— Ruth is believed to have been written by 
Samuel. It belongs to the time of the Judges. It 
abounds in examples of firm faith, tender affection, and 
patient waiting upon God, which go to show that even 
during an age of violence and apostasy Jehovah is not 
without His faithful children. The conversion of Ruth, 
the gentle Moabitess, and her marriage to Boaz, make 
her a " mother in Israel," and her son a descendant of 
Abraham, an ancestor of David, and therefore of the 
Messiah. 

1 and 2 Samuel.— These two books are one in the 
Hebrew canon. The first records the history of the later 
Judges, the weakness of the High Priest Eli, and the 
strength of character, executive power, and fearless 
loyalty to God of the Prophet Samuel. It is Samuel who 
turns the people from lawlessness and hcentious idolatry 
to respect the moral law, civil order, and justice. The 
latter part of the first book registers the establishment of 
the monarchy, and the selfish, obstinate and miserable 
reign of Saul its first king. Evidence and tradition point 



THE OLD TESTAMENT II5 

to Samuel as the author of the first twenty-four chap- 
ters, and to Nathan and Gad as the completers of the 
book. 

The Second Book of Samuel.— Second Samuel covers 
the reign of David (forty years). The gradual de- 
velopment of the science of history is indicated by refer- 
ences to four contemporary records of David's acts ; 
namely, to the books (a) of Jasher, (d) of Samuel, [c) of 
Nathan, and (^d) of Gad. Samuel was David's counsellor 
in his exile, and the founder of the school of the prophets. 
Nathan was the prophet of David's reign, and his chief 
counsellor. The reign of David was the most briUiant 
in Hebrew history, and became the prophetic type of the 
reign of the Messiah. 

1 and 2 Kings.— I and 2 Kings are one book in the 
ancient Hebrew copies. They cover the history of the 
kingdoms of Israel and Judah for about 400 years ; t. e,, 
from the death of David to the Captivity. Its authorship 
is uncertain. The prophets were the usual historians of 
their times, and probably later their work was condensed 
into a continuous history by Jeremiah, or Ezra. The 
vivid pen-pictures of scenes in the Hfe of Elijah, Elisha, 
Ahab, and Jehu point to an eye-witness, whose enlarged 
records have been made a part of the history. The en- 
tire two books register a continuous conflict between 
faith and apostasy ; the worship of God, and the worship 
of Baal. The tribes of Israel cling to idolatry, and at the 
exile disappear forever. Judah repents in exile and is 
restored. 

1 and 2 Chronicles.— I and 2 Chronicles or " Diaries," 
cover much the same period as i and 2 Kings, but from 
a different standpoint. Kings is written from the proph- 
et's point of view ; Chronicles from the view-point of the 
scribe and the priest. Kings is prophetic history. 
Chronicles is ecclesiastical history ; and this view of 
history continued until the time of Christ. Compare 
2 Sam. 6:12 with i Chron. chapters 13, 1$ and 16. 



il6 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHEr's MANUAL 

Ezra.— Ezra was written by the grandson of a high 
priest who was slain in the capture of Jerusalem. Ezra 
was probably born during the exile. The book covers 
about eighty years. It consists of two parts, separated 
by a many-years' interval. The first records a return of 
the exiles in the time of Cyrus (b. c. 538) and the re- 
building of the Temple. The second part relates a re- 
turn of more exiles under Ezra, and his rebuilding of the 
spiritual hfe of the people. 

Nehemiah.— Nehemiah was formerly a part of the 
book of Ezra ; and, like it, is not history but rather a col- 
lection of historic documents, the material of history. It 
covers a period of thirty-six years, beginning twelve 
years after the close of Ezra, and ending Old Testament 
history. Nehemiah, cup-bearer to the king of Persia, 
returned to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem for the protec- 
tion of the Temple, and the city. Amid great opposition 
this was accomplished; as was also a religious revival, with a 
renewal of the nation's Covenant with God. 

Esther— Esther records an incident in the life of the 
Jews who elected not to return to the Holy Land. Its 
author is probably Mordecai. His moral standards fall 
below those of Daniel under like circumstances. The 
Jewish feast of Purim is founded on this historic incident. 

Poetical Books 

Job.— A book of great poetic beauty, and religious 
power. It is a discussion of God's providential govern- 
ment of the world as illustrated by the sufferings of Job. 
It is the first book to record the hope of a future Hfe. 

Psalms.— A book of Hebrew history set to music. Its 
composition extends from Moses to Malachi. Its pro- 
phetic visions and spiritual aspirations make it the 
hymnal of the New Covenant as well as of the Old. As 
arranged it is an inspiring oratorio in five parts^ each end- 
ing with a chorus, doxology, or amen ; and sometimes 



THE OLD TESTAMENT 11/ 

with all of them. Part 1, Pss. 1-41 ; II, 42-72 ; III, 73-89 ; 
IV, 90-106 (compiled in captivity) ; V, 107- 1 50. 

Proverbs.— Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Job form the 
Wisdom Literature of the Old Testament. They present 
the practical rules, ethical principles, or moral ideals that 
should shape conduct. " Wisdom " means religion, and 
•' folly " is irreligion. Proverbs contains five parts : I, 
Sonnets on Wisdom (Chapters 1-9) ; II, Proverbs of Solo- 
mon (10-22 : 16) ; III, An Epistle on Wisdom (22 : 17-24) ; 
IV, Proverbs of Solomon collected under Hezekiah by 
Isaiah, Hosea and others (25-29) ; V, Shorter Collections 

(30-31)- 

Ecclesiastes.— Ecclesiastes (or the Preacher) is a series 
of five essays and various sayings, written by Solomon 
near the close of his life (i Kings 11 : 1-13). Prologue, 
All is Vanity (1-2: 11) ; Essay I, His Search for Wis- 
dom (i : 12-2) ; II, Times and Seasons (3 : 1-4 : 8) ; III, 
Vanity of Desire (5 : 10-6: 12); IV, Seeking Wisdom 
(7-23-9:16); V, The Joy and Shadow of Life 
(11:7-12:7); Epilogue, Fear God (12: 8- 14). The 
above omitted portions, proverbs, etc., obscure the argu- 
ment, and should be read separately. 

Song of Solomon.— This poem is said to be the only 
one remaining out of 1,005 composed by Solomon; and 
to this agree both Jewish and Christian tradition. It is 
generally thought to be a marriage ode, and its language 
is figurative of some larger and higher union. 



The Prophetical Books 

Isaiah.— Isaiah prophesied " in the days of Uzziah, 
Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah." Under the first two 
kings religion declined ; under Ahaz the Temple was 
shut, and idolatry reigned ; Hezekiah alone listened to, 
and obeyed God's prophet. The book is in two distinct 
parts. The first relates to the Jewish nation, with pre- 
dictions about Assyria (then in its might) ; Babylon (then 



Il8 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER's MANUAL 

in its infancy) ; and other national enemies. The second 
part is a prophetic picture of the whole period from the 
Captivity to the end of the Christian era. Eminent 
critics hold that the second part of the book is a separate 
prophecy written two hundred years later. If this should 
be proved correct, the fact still remains that it was writ- 
ten five hundred years before Christ, and its prophetic 
pictures of His life and sufferings make it the most won- 
derful of all inspired prophecies. 

Jeremiah.— Jeremiah lived about seventy years after 
Isaiah, in the dark days of Judah's approaching doom. 
His prophecies of disaster caused him to be despised and 
cruelly persecuted. He saw his words fulfilled, Jerusalem 
destroyed, and his persecutors carried into captivity. 
Later he was driven into Egypt, and died there. His 
book seems to have been rearranged, destroying its 
chronological order. He predicted the end of the Cap- 
tivity, the end of the Law, the beginning of spiritual 
worship, and the Gospel call to the Gentiles. 

Lamentations.— Lamentations is an appendix to the 
above. It is a pathetic ode in which Jeremiah laments 
the loss of Jerusalem, its Temple, and the miseries of his 
people. 

Ezekiel.— Ezekiel, a priest carried into exile before the 
destruction of Jerusalem, began to prophesy during the 
Captivity. His book is in two parts. The first warns 
his hearers against trusting in Egypt for aid, or hoping 
for a return to Jerusalem, and exhorts to sincere re- 
pentance. The second part is full of hope, predicting a 
new Jerusalem, a renewed Land of Promise, and the final 
glory of God's repentant people. 

DanieL— Daniel, a prince of Judah, was in exile with 
Ezekiel and is mentioned by him. He was made a civil 
governor in Babylon, and spent his life there. His book 
is in two parts and two languages. The first (historical) 
is largely in Aramaic, the second (prophetical) is mainly 
in Hebrew. His book is the Old Testament counterpart 



THE OLD TESTAMENT II9 

of the book of Revelation, and is more difficult to in- 
terpret. 

Jonala.— Jonah was the son of Amittai (2 Kings 
14 : 25). His first mission was to Israel, his second to 
her Assyrian enemies. The striking characteristic of his 
book is its truthfulness. It is the record of Gentile sailors 
more devout than God's prophet ; of heathen Ninevites 
more penitent and obedient than himself; of an idola- 
trous nation humbling itself before God, while His 
prophet wilfully contends that this nation should be des- 
troyed, not forgiven. And it ends with the record of 
Jehovah's rebuke of Jonah's unmercifulness, but without 
a record of the prophet's repentance. 

Hosea.— Hosea prophesied during the reigns of the 
last six kings of Israel. The rulers were profligates, the 
priests used shameful rehgious rites, the people lived in 
vice, and the nation looked for help — not to God but to 
the armies of the heathen. The prophet compares their 
apostasy to a woman's unfaithfulness to her vows of mar- 
riage. The latter half of the book is made up of pro- 
phetic discourses illustrated by vivid imagery. 

Joel.— Joel is supposed to have prophesied in Judah, 
and to have been a contemporary of Hosea. His book 
warns of coming famine, and desolation, and exhorts 
to repentance that Jehovah may turn the calamity into a 
blessing ; foretells the outpouring of the Holy Spirit ; and 
predicts the fall of Jerusalem, the building of a new city, 
and the coming of the Messiah with peace and prosperity. 

Amos.— Amos was a contemporary of Joel and Hosea, 
prophesying with the latter in Israel. Like him he de- 
nounced the vices of the king and people, the oppression 
of the rich, and the idolatrous worship of the calves. He 
foretells Israel's impending ruin, and after it the coming 
kingdom of the Messiah, with its call to the Gentiles. 
His words arouse the hatred of the idolatrous priests, 
and the king expels Amos from the kingdom of Israel. 

Micah.— Micah follows the three last named prophets, 



120 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER'S MANUAL 

and repeats their warnings of the woe coming upon both 
kingdoms. He contrasts God's great mercy, and Israel's 
base ingratitude. He foretells the cessation of prophecy, 
the coming of the Messiah, the place of His birth. 
His divine nature, and the universality of His king- 
dom. 

Nahum.— Nahum is believed to have prophesied after 
the captivity of Israel, and before that of Judah. His 
book is mainly a sequel to that of Jonah. Nineveh, in 
Nahum's time the largest and richest city in the world, 
had fallen back into its old wickedness. Nahum an- 
nounces the sinful city's doom. 

Zephaniah.— Zephaniah prophesied in the reign of 
Josiah, king of Judah. He warns against the idolatrous 
worship of Baal and Moloch, and denounces the wicked- 
ness of Jerusalem. His language is much like that of 
Jeremiah. 

Habakkuk.— Habakkuk was a younger contemporary 
of Jeremiah, and prophesied in Judah during the reign of 
Jehoiakim. He did not accompany the exiles, but amid 
the ruins of Jerusalem lamented the sins of the people. 
The structure of the book shows that it was later used as 
an oratorio in the service of the Temple. He foretells 
the destruction of the heathen Chaldeans, and pours forth 
a sublime song of praise for the mercy of Jehovah. 

Obadiah.— Obadiah is believed to have prophesied in 
the time of Joel, before the destruction of Jerusalem. 
As Nahum had foretold the downfall of Chaldea, so 
Obadiah predicts the utter ruin of Edom. He also fore- 
tells the coming of the Messiah. 

The Prophets of the Restoration 

Haggai.— Haggai was probably born in Babylon and 
returned to Jerusalem with the first company, under 
Zerubbabel and the High Priest Joshua. He arouses the 
people to renew the building of God's Temple, fore- 



THE OLD TESTAMENT 121 

tells its greater glory over Solomon's Temple, and pre- 
dicts the stability of the spiritual kingdom of God. 

Zeohariah.— Zechariah, like Haggai, was born in cap- 
tivity, and returned to Jerusalem with him. He inspired 
the people to complete the Temple. His book abounds 
in references to the advent of the Messiah, and contains 
nine visions of the glory of the Messiah's kingdom and its 
worship. 

Malachi.— Malachi, a contemporary of Nehemiah, was 
the last prophet of the Old Covenant (except John the 
Baptist, who preached 400 years later). The new Temple 
was already built when Malachi prophesied. He rebukes 
the profanity of its priests, and foretells the sudden coming 
of the Messiah to purify His Church and its congregation. 
Malachi warns his people that their sins will cause Je- 
hovah to reject them, and accept the Gentiles. 

Constructive Review 

Name the books of the Pentateuch. 

Name the twelve historical books. 

Name the five poetical books. 

Name the seventeen prophetical books. 

Which were written after the return from exile ? 

The largest Old Testament book? Which covers 
longest time ? 

Which book contains the national hymns and an- 
thems ? 

Which are the law books of the Hebrew nation ? 

Which one is a book of practical ethics ? 

Which contains the beginnings of the Divine Cove- 
nant ? 

Which covers the period of the Patriarchal Covenant ? 

Which cover the period of the National Covenant ? 

Which the Decline of Monarchy and the Rise of 
Prophecy ? 

Who prophesied during the DecHne of Monarchy ? 



122 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER's MANUAL 

Who prophesied during the exile of Judah ? 
Who prophesied after the return from exile ? 
What is the supreme purpose of the Old Testament? 



Helpful Books 

Short Introduction to the Literature of the Bible. Moulton. 

Heath ....... Net jjli.oo 

Holy Land in Geography. MacCoun. Vol. I. Revell ..... i.oo 

Old Testament History. Maclear. Macmillan Net i.io 

Introduction to the Old Testament. Wright. Whittaker . . ** .je 

A New Bible Dictionary. Hastings. 5 vols. Scribner. . . « 30.00 

Bible Dictionary. Smith. Abridged. Revell 1.50 

Sketches of Jewish Social Life. Edersheim. Revell 1.25 

Sacrificial Worship (O. T.). Gold. Longmans Net i.oo 

Expositors* Bible (Commentary). 49 vols. Armstrong. Per vol. 1.50 
Handy Commentary on the Pentateuch. Ellicott. 5 vols. Cassell. 

Each 75 cents to ^1.25 

Hours with the Bible. Geikie. Pott. 6 vols. Old Testament. Each 1.25 

4 vols. New Testament. « 1,50 

Bible Words and Phrases. Michie. Scribner 40 

Men of the Old Testament. (For devotional study.) Willman. 

Y. M. C. A. New York Net .75 

Paper .50 
History of the Hebrew People. Kent. 4 vols. Scribner. 

Each ■ Net 1.25 

Outlines of Old Testament Theology. Burney. Gorham . . « .35 

Bible Study by Books. Sell. Revell 60 

Paper .35 

Men of the Bible. Exell. (New edition.) 17 vols. Revell. Each .75 

Genesis. Dods. Scribner Net .60 

Bible Class Primers : (Principal Salmond, Editor.) History of the 

English Bible. Geography of Palestine. Life of Abraham. 

Moses. Mosaic Tabernacle, Joshua and the Conquest. The 

Story of Jerusalem. Period of the Judges. Eli, Samuel, and 

Saul. David. Solomon. Kings of Israel. Elijah and Elisha. 

Kings of Judah. Exile and Restoration. Jeremiah. Ezekiel. 

Minor Prophets. Historical Connection Between the Old and 

New Testaments. Scribner Each volume net .20 



IV 

THE LIFE OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST 

BY THE 

Rt. Rev. A. C. A. Hall, D. D., LL. D., 

Bishop of Vermont 



IV 

THE LIFE OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST 
I. General Introduction 

Importance of the subject. — The life of our Lord 
Jesus Christ is the very centre of God's revelation. See 
Heb. I : I : *• God who in old time spake unto the 
fathers in the prophets by divers portions [in fragmentary 
and piecemeal fashion] and in divers manners [through 
vision and dream and figure], hath now spoken unto us 
by His Son." 

Jesus Christ is not only the greatest of all the teachers 
that God has raised up ; He is Himself God's Son in our 
nature. So He makes God known not only by what He 
said, but also by what He did, and most of all by what 
He was. He is Himself the Word of God, the expres- 
sion or utterance of God's mind, as our words utter our 
thoughts. This is what St. John means at the beginning 
of his Gospel, when he says, — In the beginning was the 
Word, and the Word was with God (the Father), and the 
Word was Himself God. . . . And the Word be- 
came flesh (took man's nature) and dwelt among us, and 
we (His disciples) saw His glory (not only shown in His 
miracles, but in His life and character), a glory that we 
felt could belong to none except the only begotten Son of 
God, so full was His Hfe of grace and truth (St. John 
I : 1,2, 14). We can sum up the teaching of His hfe in 
these two short sentences, which give the kernel of the 
Gospels, the pith of the Creeds, a summary of the whole 
Christian religion : 

(i) What Jesus was God is. 



126 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER'S MANUAL 

(2) What Jesus was, man should be, and by His help 
may more and more become. 

(i) See St. John 14: 8, 9; 2 Cor. 4 : 4, 6. Reacted 
out God's character in our nature and circumstances ; He 
translated (as we might say) the divine attributes into 
language that we can understand, the language of human 
conduct. God's love is understood in the self-sacrifice of 
Jesus, God's hohness in His purity, God's truth in His 
laying down His Hfe in bearing witness to His message. 

(2) He continually spoke of Himself as " The Son of 
man," that is, the pattern man. He showed us how to 
use all the different parts of our nature : the body in 
purity and self-restraint; the mind in clear and true 
thought ; the heart in loving all things that are true and 
pure and fair and noble, and in hating all that is false and 
foul, and base and bad ; the conscience in quick recogni- 
tion of what is right ; and the will in obedience to God's 
commands at whatever cost. 

The sources of our knowledge. — Jesus Christ Himself 
left no writings. His way was to teach and influence 
those whom He brought near to Him, that they might 
tell to others what they had seen and heard. (See 
I St. John I : 1-4.) 

His Hfe on earth is recorded in the Gospels. About 
the Gospels we should remember : — 

(1) They are not full biographies. — They are " brief 
accounts of a very full, though comparatively short Hfe." 
(See St. John 20: 30, 31 ; 21 : 25.) 

(2) They are -written from different points of view.— 
As the incidents specially impressed the several writers. 
There is really one Gospel (or story of the good news of 
the life of the Son of God on earth) according to St. 
Matthew or St. Mark, etc. 

(3) The four Gospels, which we have, survived out of 
many attempts that were made to write the story. — 
See St. Luke i : 1-4. These four commended them- 
selves to the early Christian Church, as being the work 



THE LIFE OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST 12/ 

of Christ's immediate followers or of their disciples, and 
as giving a true representation of His life. In the year 
182 A. D. Irenaeus, a bishop in what we now call France, 
who had come from the East, where he had been a 
disciple of Polycarp, who was himself a pupil of St. John, 
wrote of •' the fourfold Gospel " — the same which we now 
have. 

(4) Our knowledge of the facts of our Lord's life is 
not dependent on the Gospels.— (<3:) We could put to- 
gether a full outline of His life from the references of 
the Apostles in their speeches in the Acts and in their 
writings in the Epistles. And much of this teaching is a 
good deal earlier than the writing of our Gospels.^ 
(^d) Before any of the books of the New Testament were 
written, there was a story of our Lord's life taught to 
disciples by word of mouth, (See St. Luke i : 4.) The 
Apostles founded churches before they addressed letters to 
them ; and they must have had some short summary of 
Christian doctrine, like the Creed. (See Rom. 6: 17; 
I St. Tim. 6: 20; 2 St. Tim. i : 13.) 2 

(5) Dates of the Gospels.—" The great mass of the first 
three Gospels had assumed its permanent shape between 
A. D. 60 and 70, not later," ^ t. e., within thirty or forty 
years after the crucifixion and resurrection of our Lord, 
and the gift of the Holy Spirit. The titles of the books 
(giving the names of the authors) were not prefixed by 
the writers themselves ; these are derived from the tradi- 
tion of the Church, but at the latest in the middle of 
the second century. 

(6) The claim which the Evangelists make is :— 

{a) In one case, to be an honest witness of the facts 
recorded (St. John i : 14 ; 19 : 35 ; 21 : 24). 

» See The Student's Life of Jesus, by G. H. Gilbert, pp. 402-406, "The 
Gospel outside the Gospels." 

2 Compare with article on New Testament, p. 167. 

3 See article, " Jesus Christ," by Dr. Sanday, in Hastings' Dictionary of 
the Bible. 



128 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER's MANUAL 

{p) In another, to be a careful and thorough historian, 
who had access to full sources of information (St. Luke 

I : 1-3). 

The Gospels are the writings of inspired men rather 
than inspired writings. God raised up men fitted in dif- 
ferent ways to write the story, and His Spirit aided them 
in their work. But they are human histories ; the 
divinity is in what they report, rather than in the way 
they report it. 

When we compare one Gospel with another, we see 
{a) that the order of events is often different (e. g., the 
place of the Sermon on the Mount in St. Matthew and in 
St. Luke) ; (b) that there are variations in the narrative 
{e. g., the different accounts of the denials of St. Peter), 
[c) and even in the words said to have been spoken by 
Jesus Christ [e. g., in the institution of the Holy Com- 
munion). 

Such facts would disprove any theory of verbal inspira- 
tion, as if the Holy Spirit dictated the exact way in 
which the story should be told. But it is the substance, 
and not the words, which is important. 

A good many difficulties will be cleared away if we 
keep in mind that the Evangelists were not so much 
authors as editors. They largely collected accounts 
from those who had been eye-witnesses. Neither St. 
Mark nor St. Luke were themselves among our Lord's 
immediate disciples. As these accounts were handed 
down, some inaccuracies in detail would very naturally 
creep in, some stories would be preserved among Chris- 
tians in one part of the country, and others among a 
group in another district. 

The variations that we observe in the Evangelists are 
a proof of substantial truth ; they show their independence. 
In a forgery great pains would have been taken to make 
everything fit in exactly. 

" The portraits of Christ drawn by the first three Evan- 
gelists, though each one is produced in part by the 



THE LIFE OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST 129 

use of materials not found elsewhere, are essentially 
one." 

Two large questions present themselves : 

(i) The relation of the first three Gospels to the 
fourth.— The first three are often called the Synoptic 
Gospels, from a Greek word which means " having a 
common view," because they give much the same ac- 
count of our Lord's hfe, while St. John's is somewhat 
different. 

(a) There is a theological difference. The Synoptic 
Gospels present more especially the human side of 
Christ's life ; St. John dwells more particularly on the 
divine side. For instance, St. Matthew and St. Luke 
tell of His birth as a little child ; St. John speaks of Him 
as the Eternal Son of God who took our nature. The 
earHer Evangelists say much that is inconsistent with His 
being a mere man (e.g., His claim to judge all the world. 
His offer to give rest to all who will submit to His yoke, 
His claim to perfect knowledge of the Father, St. Matt. 
25 : 31 ; II: 25-30) ; and St. John lays stress on His having 
become truly man [e. g., he tells of His mother and breth- 
ren, 2:12, His friendships, 11:5, His weariness, 4:6, 
His thirst, 19 : 28). So that the difference is of emphasis 
rather than of actual teaching. 

This difference is quite natural if we remember that the 
Synoptic story was written about a. d. 60-70, while the 
fourth Gospel was not written till about 90, after St. John 
had thought long over our Lord's life, and had gained, by 
his years of service and worship, a clearer grasp of the 
full significance of our Lord's self-revelation. By this 
time, too, the need had risen to guard against the errors 
of false teachers who denied our Lord's Godhead. (See 
I St. John 2 : 22-24 ; 2 St. John 9.) Probably (but of 
this we cannot be sure) before St. John wrote his account 
of our Lord's life on earth, he had seen the vision of His 
glory in heaven, which is written down in the book of 
the Revelation. That glory would have been reflected 



I30 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHERS MANUAL 

on all that the disciple remembered of what his 
Master had said and done and suffered while on 
earth. 

(d) The first three Evangelists are chiefly concerned 
with our Lord's ministry and teaching in GaUlee; the 
fourth Gospel is chiefly concerned with His work in 
Judsea and at Jerusalem. St. John's narrative is distinctly 
supplementary. When he wrote, the other Gospels were 
already in circulation and use among Christians. He did 
not as a rule tell over again what they had reported. 
He recalled other things which for one reason or another 
they had not told. And especially he recalled some of 
the longer discourses of our Lord. For instance, St. John 
does not tell of the institution either of Baptism or of the 
Holy Communion. Both Sacraments when he wrote 
were regularly administered in the Christian Church. So 
he gives an account of our Lord's discourse about the 
New Birth of Water and the Spirit (chap. 3), and of His 
discourse about the Bread from Heaven (chap. 6), show- 
ing the spiritual significance of the two great Sacra- 
ments. 

(2) The relation of the first three Gospels.— There is 
the further question of the relation of the first three Gos- 
pels one to another, which is sometimes called *• the 
Synoptic problem." About this it will be enough to say 
here, (a) that St. Mark's Gospel is almost certainly the 
earliest of the three, and that it is practically a writing- 
down of what St. Peter taught orally ; (^) that St. Mark's 
narrative and another document (which is not preserved 
to us in a separate form) were used by the first and third 
Evangelists. 

It is possible that the first Gospel is called after 
St. Matthew, because it was partly formed on some 
memoranda (Logia is the word in the Greek) made by 
St. Matthew.! 

1 For this subject special reference may be made to The Study of the 
Gospels^ by J. Armitage Robinson (Handbooks for the Clergy). 



THE LIFE OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST I3I 

II. The Outline of our Lord's Life 

St. Mark. — St. Mark's is the simplest. He begins with 
Christ's entrance on His public ministry after the Baptism 
and the Temptation. It falls into these divisions : 

(i) The ministry in Galilee, I : 1 4-7 : 23. 

(2) The ministry in north and east of Galilee, 7 • 24- 
9:50. 

(3) The ministry in Peraea (on the east side of the 
Jordan), 10 : i to 31. 

(4) The journey toward Jerusalem, and the events of 
the last week, lO : 3 2- 1 6. 

St. Matthew and St. Luke. — Under these divisions we 
can without much difficulty put the corresponding parts 
of St. Matthew and St. Luke. 

St. John. — St. John gathers his history round the great 
festivals at Jerusalem, and so gives notes of time. 

(1) The first Passover, in April (a. d. 27), 2:13. 

(2) A feast, probably Purim, March (A. D. 28), 5:1. 

(3) The second Passover, in April (A. D. 28), 6 : 4. 

(4) The Tabernacles, in September (a. d. 28), 7 : 2. 

(5) The Dedication, in December (a. d. 28), ID : 22. 

(6) The third Passover, in April (a, D. 29), 11:55. 
This would show that our Lord's ministry (which began 

some time before the first Passover that is mentioned) 
lasted for about two years and a half, though some would 
make it cover another year. The dates given are those 
which seem most probable. 

We can now take a more complete division of the 
whole Gospel story, giving chapters for the study of our 
Lord's life. 

1. The events connected with the Incarnation. — 
St. Luke I, 2 ; St. Matt, i, 2. 

2. The ministry of John the Baptist, the Fore- 
runner.— St. Mark 1:1-8; St. Matt. 3; St. Luke 3; St. 
John I, 3. 

3. The Baptism and Temptation of our Lord. — 



132 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHERS MANUAL 

St. Mark 1:9-13; St. Matt. 3:13-4:11; St. Luke 
3:21-4:13. 

4. Our Lord's Ministry to Palm Sunday. — St. Mark 
1:14-10; St. Matt. 4: 12-20; St. Luke 4:14-19:28; 
St. John 1 : 35-11. 

5. The Holy Week (from Palm Sunday to Thurs- 
day afternoon). — St. Mark 11-13; St. Matt. 21-25; St. 
Luke 19 : 28-21 ; St. John 12. 

6. The Passion (from Thursday evening to Satur- 
day).— St. Mark 14, 15; St. Matt. 26, 27; St. Luke 22, 
23; St. John 13-19- 

7. The Resurrection.— St. Mark 16; St. Matt. 28; 
St. Luke 24; St. John 20, 21. 

Alongside of these historical divisions of our Lord's 
life, it is helpful to make a study of our Lord's example 
in the several departniefits of human life, and to note how 
the Perfect Man acted : — 

( 1) In domestic life, with His family. 

(2) In social life, with His friends. 

( 3) In ministerial life, in His work. 

(4) In devotional life, in His prayers. 

(5) In suffering. 

We shall find a good many more illustrations under 
each head than without careful thought we might 
imagine.^ 



III. The Early Years and Private Life 

The events connected with the Incarnation, the 
infancy and private life of our Lord. — St. Luke i, 2; 
St. Matthew 1,2. 

Announcement concerning the birth of the Forerunner. 
His birth. His father's song {Benedictus). — St. Luke. 

Announcement to the Blessed Virgin Mary concerning 

1 See The Example of our Lord, especially for His ministers^ by 
Bishop Hall. 



THE LIFE OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST 1 33 

the birth of our Lord. Her visit to Elizabeth. Her 
song {Magnificaty — St. Luke. 

The angel's explanation to Joseph. — St. Matt. 

The birth of Jesus Christ.—St. Matt., St. Luke. 

Announcement to the shepherds. The angels' song 
{Gloria in excelsis). — St. Luke. 

His circumcision, and the giving of the name Jesus. — 
St. Matt., St. Luke. 

The presentation in the Temple, forty days later. 
Simeon and Anna. Simeon's song {Nunc Dimittis). — 
St. Luke. 

The coming of the Magi. Herod's fears. His slaugh- 
ter of the children. The flight of the Holy Family into 
Egypt.— St. Matt. 

The return to Nazareth, where the Lord spends His 
childhood and youth. — St. Matt., St. Luke. 

The visit to the Temple when He is twelve years of 
age. — St. Luke. 

About this part of the Gospel history some difficulties 
have been urged. 

( I ) It is related by only two out of the four Evangelists, 
St. Matthew and St. Luke.— But no argument against the 
story can be drawn from the silence of the other Evan- 
gelists. It would be quite different if they gave any other 
account of our Lord's infancy. St. Mark begins his story 
with our Lord's Baptism when He entered on His public 
work. From this point St. Peter's own recollections 
served for a foundation of the narrative. 

St. Mark's Gospel would represent what we might call 
the first edition of the story of our Lord's life, what the 
Apostles themselves had seen and heard, from the Bap- 
tism by John to the Resurrection. (See Acts i : 22.) 

A second edition would be represented by St. Matthew 
and St. Luke, including an account of our Lord's early 
years, about which inquiries would naturally be made, 
when people had come to believe in Him. 

St. John's Gospel marks a third edition, being written 



134 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHERS MANUAL 

a good deal later, after long thought and reflection. (See 
above, p. 129.) 

The silence of St. Mark about the wonderful birth of 
our Lord is easily explicable. Very likely it had not yet 
been publicly told. It was not, like the Resurrection, a 
proof of our Lord's claims. 

The silence of St. John is explained. The story had 
already been related by St. Matthew and St. Luke. St. 
John is chiefly concerned with our Lord's Divine Sonship 
before He was born into this world as Man. 

(2) St. Matthe-w and Sc. Luke do not tell exactly the 
same story.— There is no sort of contradiction between 
them. They supplement one another, relating different 
incidents which fit in together quite easily. St. Luke 
probably tells the story as he learned it from the Virgin 
Mary ; St. Matthew tells more particularly what con- 
cerned Joseph. 

(3) The genealogies. — These tables of descent (St. 
Matt. I : 1-17 ; St. Luke 3 : 23-38), would have been ex- 
tracted from official records, in the keeping of which 
the Jews were very particular. St. Luke probably gives 
the actual pedigree from father to son, while St. Mat- 
thew traces the royal line, in which the right to the 
crown might go from grandfather to grandson, from 
uncle to nephew, etc. This explanation would easily ac- 
count for the differences between the two lists, and would 
fit in with the general character of those two Gospels. 
Both lists trace the line of Joseph, for our Lord was his 
legal son and heir. Very likely the pedigree of the 
Virgin Mary may have been identical with that of Joseph 
down to a few steps back. 

(4) The miraculous or supernatural character of the 
story. — Some people feel a difficulty about this, (a) 
Miracles (about which something more will be said later) 
cannot be taken out of the history of our Lord's life 
without tearing it all to pieces. (^) If we believe that 
our Lord Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God 



THE LIFE OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST 1 35 

('♦ begotten of His Father before all worlds," as the Creed 
says), we should expect that when He came into this 
world and took man's nature, such an extraordinary event 
would be attended with unusual signs. His birth of a 
Virgin Mother (i) marks His entire freedom from all 
taint of disordered nature transmitted from one gener- 
ation to another. His body and soul with all their pow- 
ers were from the very first moment of their existence 
formed and fashioned by the Holy Spirit in exact cor- 
respondence with God's purpose for man's nature. 
(2) This kind of birth marks Him out as the Eternal 
Son of God, who, without ceasing to be what He ever was, 
became Man, joining our human nature to the Divine 
nature in His one Divine person. 

A few notes may be added on different incidents of 
this part of the Gospel story. A fuller explanation will be 
found in commentaries. 

The home of the Virgin Mary and of Joseph. — The 
home of the Virgin Mary and of Joseph was at Nazareth 
in the northern part of Palestine, called Galilee, where 
there was a mixed population of Jews and Gentiles. 
Joseph was a carpenter, engaged perhaps in mending the 
waggons, and making yokes for the oxen, for the caravans 
which passed through Nazareth, bringing merchandise 
from the Eastern countries to the Mediterranean ports to 
be shipped to Europe. Our Lord shared this work with 
Joseph as a lad and youth. 

Place of Christ's birth. — Our Lord Jesus Christ was 
born at Bethlehem in Judaea, about six miles south of 
Jerusalem, Joseph and the Virgin Mary having gone 
there for the census which the Romans, who had con- 
quered Palestine, had ordered to be made. So David's 
greater Son was born, as had been foretold, in David's 
town. Herod, who was allowed a limited rule under the 
Romans, had no real right to the throne. He was a 
foreigner and a usurper. This was why he was alarmed 



136 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER's MANUAL 

when he heard of one who had been " born king of the 
Jews," a rightful heir. 

The Circumcision. — At the Circumcision, which in 
some measure corresponded for the Jewish boy with 
baptism for us, marking him as belonging to God's cove- 
nant people, the name Jesus was given to the child, as the 
angel had bidden. This was our Lord's own personal 
name, by which He would have been spoken to by His 
mother, and called by His companions. Christ (or " the 
Christ ") is a title, meaning that He was the great Mes- 
senger (to act as Prophet, Priest and King) whom God 
had so long, and in so many ways, promised that He 
would send. 

Jesus (which is the Greek form of the Hebrew Joshua) 
was not an uncommon name among the Jews, after their 
great leader in old time who succeeded Moses. It meant 
♦' the Lord shall save " ; and now it is given to Mary's 
child with a deeper meaning than it had ever borne be- 
fore. He is Himself the Lord who will save His people 
from their worst enemies — their sins. (See Num. 13:6, 
St. Matt. I : 21.) 

The Magi. — The Magi came from one of the countries 
to the east of Palestine, where a knowledge of the Jews' 
religion had been spread through the exile of the Jews 
in Babylon. They had carried with them their Old Tes- 
tament Scriptures, and the people around had learned 
about the great King of whom the prophets had told. 
These men studying the heavens were led by the appear- 
ance of a star (about which we can really know very 
little) to believe that the great King of the Jews was 
come, and they went to pay Him homage, and to ask His 
protection for their country when He should have His 
promised world-wide dominion. Of course they could 
not know who He really was (as we do), but they regarded 
Him as a king whom God raised up. Their visit to 
Bethlehem could not have been for several weeks, per- 
haps some months, after the birth of the Holy Child. It 



THE LIFE OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST \yj 

must have been after He had been presented to His 
Father in the Temple. 

In Egypt. — In Egypt where Joseph was bidden to take 
the young child and His mother, when Herod sought to 
slay Him, there was a colony of Jews, so that they would 
be not altogether without friends. We do not know ex- 
actly how long they remained there, probably only a few 
months, for Herod the Great soon died. To avoid 
Archelaus who was almost as bad as his father, Joseph 
took Mary and Jesus not to Bethlehem, but to his old 
home in Nazareth, which was in another part of the 
country, under a different ruler. 

At twelve years of age. — At twelve years of age a 
Jewish boy was allowed to take part in the Passover sac- 
rifice and feast. From that time he was bound to ob- 
serve the Jewish law. This explains our Lord's going 
from Nazareth to Jerusalem with Mary and Joseph when 
He was twelve years old. When we are told that He was 
found sitting among the doctors and teachers, and asking 
them questions, we must not think of Him as lecturing. 
As they sat in a semicircle in one of the rooms of the 
Temple, He was sitting at their feet Hke a pupil, hearing 
their expositions of the Old Testament Scriptures, and 
asking them questions, that they might explain more of 
the meaning of what God had said and ordered. But 
the questions He asked, and the answers He gave to their 
questions, showed a knowledge and an understanding at 
which they wondered. When the party of pilgrims was 
about to return to Nazareth, there seems to have been 
some misunderstanding about the time or place of start- 
ing, and Jesus was accidentally left behind. He naturally 
stayed in the Temple, and expressed surprise that His 
parents should have looked for Him elsewhere. 

The early years. — All we are told of the early years 
of our Lord is that He increased in wisdom as in stature, 
and in favour both with God and with men. As His 
body grew in size and strength, so His mind developed ; 



138 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER's MANUAL 

and there was also a moral progress. As He came up to 
a duty, He fulfilled it ; to an opportunity, He embraced it ; 
to a temptation, He turned from it. The human body 
and mind and heart and will of the Son of God were al- 
ways what God intended the body and soul of man to be. 
He lived a private life until He was thirty years old. — 
This was the age at which a Jewish priest entered on 
his ministry. Then our Lord began His pubHc work. 
Joseph apparently had died meanwhile. He is not men- 
tioned during the ministry. Our Lord's " brethren," who 
are several times spoken of. may have been younger chil- 
dren of Mary ; but more probably they were either older 
children of Joseph by a former marriage, or perhaps 
cousins of Jesus. The word " brethren " is often used of 
near relations. 



IV. The Ministry of St. John Baptist, 
THE Forerunner 

Age, — St. John the Baptist was about six months older 
than Jesus (St. Luke i : 26). Consequently the time 
when he would enter on his public preaching would be 
probably about half a year before our Lord began His 
work. John had spent his youth mostly in retirement 
in the scantily inhabited parts of Judaea near the river 
Jordan. There he had meditated upon the Old Testa- 
ment Scriptures, and had learned more of their spiritual 
meaning than most of the people had gained (St. Luke 
i: 80). 

His special office. — To prepare the way of the Lord, 
to put the finishing stroke to the work of the Old Testa- 
ment: (i) He points out as having actually come the 
great Messenger whom under a great many descriptions 
and in a great many ways the " prophets which had been 
since the world began " had foretold as about to come 
(St. Luke I : 70). (2) But first he sets himself to pre- 
pare men to receive Him. Accordingly he took his 



THE LIFE OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST 1 39 

place by one of the crossings of the river Jordan where 
the companies of pilgrims from distant parts would pass 
on their way to Jerusalem for the festivals, and there he 
told them that the kingdom of God which had been so 
long promised was close at hand, and bade them repent, 
that they might be prepared to have their share in it. 
He baptised in the river those who obeyed his teaching, 
as a token of their repentance and of their setting out 
on a new life. This part of John's ministry is related 
by the first three Evangelists (St. Mark I : i-8 ; St. Matt. 
3 ; St. Luke 3). 

The second stage of the Baptist's ministry. — St. John 
I : 15-36 and 3 : 22, etc., tell of the second stage of the 
Baptist's ministry after our Lord's Baptism (which will 
be considered in the next article). Then, after the sign 
that he has seen, he points out the Christ to two of his 
disciples, who become followers of the new Teacher. 

Later John is imprisoned by Herod Antipas because 
he rebuked the king for his wicked marriage, and 
subsequently is put to death by him (St. Mark 6; 14-29). 



V. The Baptism and Temptation of our Lord 

The Baptism. — The Baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ 
was not for Him what Baptism is for us. He, God's Son 
in our nature, needed no cleansing. So far as a mark of 
belonging to God's covenant people was concerned, this 
was given to Him at His Circumcision when He was 
eight days old; so that His being baptised when He 
was thirty years of age is no argument against the Bap- 
tism of infants, which His Circumcision would sanction. 
His Baptism was more like an ordination ; it was His 
setting apart for His pubHc ministry. He is recognised 
and acknowledged by John the Baptist, whose prepara- 
tory ministry He honours by submitting to his baptism. 
Then He is proclaimed from heaven as God's beloved 



140 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER's MANUAL 

Son in whom His Father is well pleased, and the Spirit 
of God comes upon Him to fit Him for His work 
(St. Mark i: 9-1 1 ; St. Matt. 3: 13-17; St. Luke 3: 
21, 22). 

The Temptation. — Immediately after His Baptism 
follows His Temptation (St. Mark i : 12, 13; St. Matt. 
4: i-ii; St. Luke 4: 1-13). Jesus retired into the 
wilderness after His Baptism (which, as we have seen, 
was a sort of ordination) to prepare for His public work 
on which He was now to enter. Before He called a 
disciple or preached a sermon or worked a miracle, He 
would earn His right to lead, by Himself meeting 
temptation, and proving His sympathy with us (Heb. 
2: 18). 

We must remember that the story of our Lord's 
Temptation is a bit of autobiography. No companion 
was with Him in the wilderness. What happened could 
have been told to the disciples only by our Lord Him- 
self. Doubtless He told them the story in order to in- 
struct and encourage them under their temptations. And 
He told His experience in the way in which He saw 
that they could best understand it. So He prob- 
ably clothed in symbolic form what had really been a 
spiritual struggle in His own soul against the sugges- 
tions by which Satan tried to induce Him to misuse His 
powers for any selfish purposes, or by snatching at the 
kingdom which God intended He should gain by pa- 
tience and obedience. 

We must always remember that while the story prob- 
ably represents an inward struggle, yet the temptations 
were presented from without our Lord's own soul, and 
were not (as so often with us) the rising up of evil or dis- 
orderly desires within His own heart.^ 



1 For a fuller treatment of the Temptation thus regarded, reference 
may be made to Chap. V in Latham's Pastor Fastoruf?i, and to Bishop 
Hall's Chris fs Ihnptation and Ours. 



THE LIFE OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST I4I 

VI. The Ministry of our Lord 

Our Lord's ministry, we should remember, lasted less 
than three years out of the thirty-three years of His 
earthly life. 

Its Periods. — Perhaps it will be easiest to divide our 
Lord's ministry (of which an outHne has already been 
given) ^ into these sections : 

(i) The early Judsean ministry.— The early Judsan 
ministry followed immediately after the Temptation and 
lasted until the imprisonment of John the Baptist. This 
is narrated only by St. John, Chap, i : 35 — 4-end. 

Jesus gathers His first disciples who had been trained 
by the Baptist (Chap, i), and takes them for a short 
visit to Galilee, where He works His first miracle at 
Cana, and then, after a short stay at Capernaum, returns 
to Jerusalem for the (first) Passover (27 a. d.). Per- 
haps Peter did not accompany Him from Galilee, or 
did not stay long in Jerusalem after the festival ; this 
would account for this part of the ministry not being re- 
lated by St. Mark who put into writing what Peter taught 
out of his own recollections. (See p. 1 30.) 

At the Passover Jesus cleansed the Temple from its 
irreverent usage and in answer to a challenge for a sign 
as to His authority foretold His resurrection (Chap. 2). 

It was at this time that Jesus had the discourse with 
Nicodemus about the necessity of a new birth (receiving 
a new life from above) if any would enter into the king- 
dom which He came to set up (Chap. 3 : 1-21). Then 
He took some of His disciples to the northeastern part 
of Judaea, by the river Jordan, and seems to have spent 
several months with them there (Chap. 3 : 22). Later 
when John, who had been teaching and baptising a Httle 
further to the north, was imprisoned, Jesus left Judaea 
and went to Galilee (taking up His public preaching when 
John stopped), and on His way passed through Samaria, 

1 See page 131. 



142 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHERS MANUAL 

sowing there the seed of the harvest which was reaped by 
Philip and Peter and John (Chap. 4 and Acts 8). 

(2) The ministry in Galilee (St. Mark I : 14 — 7 123; 
St. Matthew 4: 12 — 15 : 20; St. Luke 4: 14 — 9: 17). — 
This division of our Lord's work begins with His procla- 
mation, following on the Baptist's work, " The kingdom of 
God is at hand." Then He calls the disciples (who had 
been already introduced to Him and had been in His com- 
pany, as we learn from St. John) to a closer companion- 
ship. They are now to remain with Him and be first 
trained and then used by Him. 

The method I would recommend for any who desire to 
study closely the account of our Lord's work, would be 
to set down {a) first from St. Mark (which is the simplest 
story and probably follows the historical order most 
closely) one under another the several incidents recorded 
in each chapter as in this section from chapter i : 14 to 
7 : 23. Then (b) on one side to set down the parallel 
references in St. Matthew (who follows St. Mark pretty 
closely), with any fresh incidents that he gives ; and (c) 
on the other side to set down the parallel references in 
St. Luke, whose order of events often varies considerably 
from that of the others, and who also gives many other 
incidents. (d) Having done this with the Synoptic 
Gospels (see p. 129), you will have to see where (in a 
fourth column) to put down and fit in St. John's story. 

In making this sort of Harmony of the different ac- 
counts, you will find (what has been already stated, p. 128) 
that— 

(i) The evangelists are independent, not slavish 
imitators one of another. The substance is regarded 
rather than the exact form of the story. 

(ii) They follow different traditions which are in 
general agreement, but with sometimes considerable 
variations : {a) as to the order of events ; {b) some tradi- 
tions are fuller than others ; {c) one evangelist had 
access to traditions and recollections that others had not. 



THE LIFE OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST 1 43 

(iii) They sometimes group incidents according to an 
inner moral connection out of their actual historical 
order. For example, " The Sermon on the Mount," in 
St. Matt. 5-7, may contain teaching of our Lord not all 
given at the same time. Compare with it St. Luke 
6: 20-49. So St. Matthew groups together in chapter 
1 3 seven parables of the kingdom, some of which were 
probably spoken at other times. (See St. Mark 4 ; St. 
Luke 8 : 4, etc. and 13 : 18, etc.) 

During the ministry in Galilee our Lord seems to have 
made Capernaum His home or headquarters. In mak- 
ing a Harmony of this section, we may well suppose that 
when our Lord had sent out the twelve disciples on their 
trial mission (which is mentioned in all the first three 
Gospels— St. Mark 6, St. Matt. 10, St. Luke 9), He 
Himself went up to Jerusalem alone to the Feast of Purim 
(March a. d. 28), and there restored to health the impo- 
tent man by the pool of Bethesda, and then had a con- 
trovers}^ with some of the leaders of the Jews about the 
Sabbath and concerning His own authority (St. John 5). 

Returning from Jerusalem Jesus welcomes the twelve 
as they come back from their mission (St. Mark 6 : 30 ; 
St. Matt. 14: 13; St. Luke 9: 10), and takes them for 
rest across the lake, where He is met by the multitude 
of people, whom He first instructs and then feeds. This 
miracle of the Feeding of the Five Thousand is told by all 
four Evangelists, and St. John accounts for the great 
number of people being there by explaining that the 
(second) Passover (a. d. 28) was near at hand, and they were 
journeying toward Jerusalem. So we get a landmark in 
our Lord's ministry close to the end of this section, and 
see that the discourse on the Bread of Life given in St. 
John 6 fits in here. 

(3) The ministry north and east of Galilee (St. 
Mark 7 : 24_9-end ; St. Matt. 15 : 21— i8-end ; St. Luke 
9 : 18 — 9 : 50). — We are told that our Lord withdrew into 
the parts of Tyre and Sidon. This was after His pronounc- 



144 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHERS MANUAL 

ing woe upon the Galilean cities round the lake which had 
heard and seen so much, but had responded so little. 

In this section Ave may especially mark St. Mark's con- 
tinual notes of locality: Tyre and Sidon, 7: 24; the 
borders of Decapolis, 7: 31; Dalmanutha, 8: 10; 
Bethsaida, 8 : 22 ; Caesarea Philippi, 8 : 27 ; the high 
mountain (probably Hermon), 9:2; passing through 
Galilee, 9 : 30 ; Capernaum, 9:33.^ 

It was during this period that Jesus called forth from 
St. Peter, speaking on behalf of the apostles, the ac- 
knowledgment of His being the long-expected Messiah. 
This made possible fuller teaching on our Lord's part. 
He now speaks of the Church which He will establish 
(St. Mark 7 : 27-30; St. Matt. 16 13-20). He warns His 
disciples of the suffering which the Messiah must endure 
before entering on His kingdom, and on the Mount of 
Transfiguration gives a vision of His glory for their 
encouragement (St. Mark 8:31 — 9:13; St. Matt. 
16:21—17: 13). 

(4) The ministry in Persea (St. Mark 10 : I-31 ; St. 
Matt. 19: 1-16; St. Luke 9: 51-18 : 30). — Peraea is the 
name of the district on the east of the Jordan. 

It will be noticed at once that under this section a very 
large part of St. Luke's narrative is included. Many of 
the incidents that he here records probably belong to 
this period of our Lord's ministry, Luke having met, in 
or from this part of the country, with disciples who sup- 
plied him with the information. A good deal that is set 
down here, however, is apparently out of chronological 
order, really going with earlier parallel accounts in St. 
Mark and St. Matthew, but placed here by St. Luke on 
account of its connection in thought with other events or 
sayings. (See above under (2), p. 142.) This ministry in 
Peraea probably occupied about three months. 

1 All these places and districts should be looked up carefully on a map. 
There is a useful set of maps at the end of the Revised Version of the 
Bible (American Standard edition). 



THE LIFE OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST 1 45 

(5) The later JudsBar. ministry— The later Judsean 
ministry recorded by St. John 7 — li: 54, is connected 
with the above section, part at its beginning and part at 
its close. In chapters 7 and 8 our Lord is at the Feast of 
Tabernacles in September (a. d. 28). He seems to have 
remained in Jerusalem until the Feast of the Dedication in 
December. Chapters 9 and 10 belong to this time. Then 
He retired to Peraea (10: 40). This portion of St. John 
(7 — 10: 40) apparently comes before the Synoptic section 
given above, beginning with St. Mark 10 : I ; but of 
course it is possible that it should be fitted in at some 
point during that narrative. From Persa Jesus was 
called to Bethany on account of the sickness and death 
of Lazarus (ii : 1,2), and after recaUing him to Hfe He left 
the neighbourhood of Jerusalem, on account of the 
hostility of the ruling classes, and went to a retired place 
called Ephraim (11: 54), where He stayed quietly with 
His disciples for a few weeks, until it was time to go up to 
Jerusalem for the (third) Passover (a. d. 29). 

(6) The going up to Jerusalem for the last Passover 
(St. Mark 10: 32-end ; St. Matt. 20: 17-end; St. Luke 
18: 31 — 19: 27; St. John 12: i-ii). — This short section 
may be considered separately for the sake of clearness, 
St. John's narrative of the feast at Bethany coming at the 
end, and linking this section with the next division of 
the Gospel history, which we call the Holy Week, begin- 
ning with the Palm Sunday procession into Jerusalem. 

As our Lord journeyed toward Jerusalem for His last 
Passover, He foresaw what must come at this visit — the 
conflict with the rulers of the Jews and its result. He 
went forward courageously and eagerly, the disciples fol- 
lowing Him with amazement and awe. 

After this outline of our Lord's Ministry, with a sug- 
gested Harmony of the several narratives, it will be con- 
venient to consider a {^v^ subjects connected with the 
story that claim special attention. 



146 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER's MANUAL 

(i) Our Lord's parables. — It was a marked feature of 
our Lord's teaching to illustrate great spiritual truths and 
principles by common, every-day scenes and happenings. 
(See especially St. Matt. 13, St. Luke 15.) 

(a) This form of familiar teaching appealed to simple 
folk, and to these our Lord specially addressed Himself. 

(^) At the same time the story served to veil the truth 
from such as were not fitted or ready to receive it. This was 
a provision both of judgment and of mercy. New and 
deeper truth was hidden from those who had not made 
the most of what they had already been taught ; and they 
were saved what would have been the greater guilt of re- 
jecting what had been plainly put before them.^ (See 
St. Matt. 13: 10-15.) 

(2) Our Lord's miracles. — Many persons in our day 
are disinclined to accept the accounts of the miracles. 
They think that because we have learned so much about 
the order and course of nature, no room is left for such 
signs. We should consider : 

[a) That it is impossible to preserve the rest of the 
Gospel story if we omit all the miracles. They are 
too closely interwoven with the rest of the narrative for 
any such treatment. 

(3) There is no inherent impossibility in miracles. 
Evidence is required for such occurrences, and a sufficient 
cause. Because Almighty God ordinarily works in the 
same way (which is what the uniformity of the laws of 
nature really means), there is nothing to prevent His 
working in some unusual way on special occasions in 
order to call men's attention to some great truth. God 
is not bound by the laws of nature as if they existed in- 
dependently of Him, as the President and Congress are 
bound by the Constitution of the United States. 

(c) There is no inherent improbability (but rather the 
reverse) that extraordinary signs would accompany such 

1 Valuable expositions of the Parables will be found in Trench's JV^oUs on 
the Parables and in Bruce's The Parabolic Teaching of Christ, 



THE LIFE OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST 14/ 

an extraordinary event as the entrance into this world of 
ours of the Eternal Son of God in our nature. We 
should not expect things to go on just as usual. There 
would naturally (we might say) be " signs " (this is St. 
John's common word for miracles) of His presence and 
working. 

Miracles, the exercise of powers beyond those of 
ordinary men, were looked for as credentials of one 
claiming to speak in God's name. So our Lord promised 
His disciples that they should exercise such powers 
(St. Mark 16:17-20; St. John 14:12). When His 
rehgion was established in the world, such evidence 
would be no longer needed, and so these extraordinary 
powers were mostly withdrawn. 

(d) The unique character of our Lord's miracles 
ought to be considered. 

(i) They were not made much of. More stress was 
laid on other kinds of evidence — the appeal to men's 
consciences, and the fulfillment of prophecy — when once 
attention had been arrested by signs. 

(ii) They were never used for selfish purposes, nor as 
a wanton display of power. ^ 

Our Lord's recorded miracles may be grouped under 
these heads : 

(i) Healing the sick; e. o-,^ St. Mark i : 29-34. 

(2) Freeing persons who were under the control of 
evil spirits ; e. £:, St. Mark 1:23. 

(3) Mercifully providing for human wants ; e. g., St. 
Mark 6:41. 

(4) Exercising power over nature ; e. g., St. Mark 
4:39. 

(5) Bestoring life to the dead; e. g., St. Mark 5 : 35 i 
St. Luke 7 : II ; St. John 11 : i . 

(6) Of destruction; e.g., St. Mark 5 : ii; 1 1 : 14 
(both symbolical acts). 

' On the subject of our Lord's miracles, see Trench's Notes on the 
Miracles y and Chap. VI in Gore's The New Theology and the Old Religion, 



148 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER's MANUAL 

It would be a good practice to make a complete list, 
grouping them in this way. 

(3) Our Lord's training of His Apostles This was 

one chief purpose of Jesus throughout His ministry. 
The twelve were chosen out of the larger number of His 
hearers, that they might be with Him, and learn from 
Him what they should afterward teach others. (See St. 
Mark 3: 14; 4: 34; St. John i : 14, and his first Epistle 
1 : 1-4.) ' 

A list of the twelve Apostles should be made from St. 
Mark 3 : 1 3 ; St. Matthew 10 : 2; St. Luke 6:13; Acts i : 
1 3, arid all that can be found about each noted. 

VII. The Holy Week 

{^From Palm Sunday to Thursday afternoon) 

(St. Mark 11--13; St. Matthew 21-25; St. Luke 19:28 — 
21; St. John 12:12 to end.) It will be noticed how much 
more full the record of the last week of our Lord's ministry 
is than that of the earher years. This will be still more 
noticeable in the narrative of His Passion. The events 
and sayings of these last days had been deeply im- 
pressed upon the minds of the disciples. Though 
they still vary in details, the different narratives are 
more nearly alike. 

After the triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Sunday, 
our Lord seems to have concluded His public teaching 
on Monday and Tuesday, spending the nights at Bethany. 
Wednesday and the early part of Thursday were 
probably passed there. 

In this section we see the controversy between Jesus 
and the leaders of the Jews reaching a climax ; this will 
therefore be a suitable place for considering the causes of 
His rejection. 

Causes of our Lord's rejection. — He came unto His 

1 Latham's Pastor Pastorum is a study of our Lord's ministry, especially 
from this point of view. 



THE LIFE OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST I49 

own nation and heritage ; and they that were His own 
people — and more especially, their leaders — received Him 
not (St. John i : 11). In spite of the threefold evidence of 
His life (St. John 8 : 46), His words (St. Luke 4 : 22 ; 
St. John 7 : 46), His works (St. John 5 : 36), and in 
spite of the fulfillment in His life and work of their own 
prophets (St. Luke 7 : 22 ; St. John 5 : 39), they deter- 
mined to put Him to death. Why was this ? 

( I ) Preparatory character of worship not recognised. 
— The Jews as a body failed to recognise the preparatory 
character of the system of worship and rule of life which 
God had given them. It was all intended to train them 
for the fuller and higher revelation which would be 
given by Christ in the fullness of time (Gal. 4 : 3). The 
Jewish nation, chosen to be God's special people, were 
put in trust with their privileges for the rest of the world, 
until the Christ should come, in whom all the nations 
were to be blessed (Rom. 9 : 4, 5 ; Gal. 3 : 8). But they 
fell into two mistakes : — 

(a) They clung to their own prerogatives, in an ex- 
clusive spirit. They were unwilhng to share blessings 
with the Gentiles, whom they despised. *• The kingdom 
of God " which the prophets had foretold, and which 
they were expecting, for many of them meant a kingdom 
for Israel. 

(p) They clung to the letter of the ceremonial law, 
instead of setting themselves to learn what it really stood 
for and pointed to. And many of their teachers, instead 
of fastening on the moral significance and meaning of 
the provisions of the law, only added further details for 
its strict observance. 

The Pharisees, who represented the strictest sect of the 
Jews, were exceedingly particular about the exact observ- 
ance of the law with all its enlargements which later 
teachers had made. 

(i) Consequently they found great fault with Jesus 
because He did not strictly observe in their way the 



150 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHERS MANUAL 

Sabbath day, and because He taught that the Sabbath 
was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath, and that 
therefore works of mercy were not forbidden on that day. 
(See St. Mark 2 : 23 — 3 : 6; St. John 9 : 14 — 16.) (ii) In 
the same way they were offended with our Lord because 
He was not strict about their rules concerning cere- 
monial defilement and cleansing ;. He taught that these 
should point to internal purity of heart and cleanness of 
conduct, which were far more important. (See St. Mark 
7 : 1-23.) (iii) The Jews in their strictness condemned to 
neglect and hopelessness those who had become involved 
in transgressions. Our Lord declared that He came to 
rescue from evil those who had fallen under its power, 
and that those who knew themselves to be in need were 
much more likely to seek help than such as prided them- 
selves on their privileges and their outward strictness, 
while inwardly they were far from God and righteous- 
ness. (See St. Mark 2:15-17; St. Luke 7 : 36, etc. ; St. 
Matt. 23 : 23-28.) 

These were some of the reasons why the stricter Jews 
turned against our Lord. He contradicted their view of 
the law, and exposed their hypocrisy. 

(2) The Jews envied the popularity of Jesus. — An- 
other ground for opposition to Jesus on the part 
of the rulers and teachers was that they envied His 
popularity. The common people heard Him gladly 
(St. Mark 12 : 37). They were attracted by His gracious 
speech, and by the simplicity of His life, and impressed 
by His works of mercy and of might. While the Scribes 
(who were the official copyists and interpreters of the 
Scriptures) repeated at second hand what others had 
said, the teaching of Jesus appealed to the best and 
deepest in them, and had the authority of His personal 
knowledge and experience (St. Matt. 7 : 29 ; St. John 
3:11). What would become, so the rulers argued, of 
their position, its importance and influence, if the teach- 
ing of the Prophet from Galilee, who had never studied 



THE LIFE OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST I5I 

in their schools, prevailed? (St. John 7:15; St. Mark 
15:10). 

(3) The eJGfect of Jesus' teaching on the Romans 
feared. — Again they feared, or pretended to fear, the 
effect that a spread of His influence and teaching would 
have on their Roman masters. Jesus was regarded by 
some at any rate as the long promised Messiah; they 
looked for Him to assert His claim as King of the Jews ; 
and such a claim would arouse the suspicion of, and call 
forth severity from, the Romans, who were always on 
the watch for a revolt on the part of their subjugated peo- 
ples. " If we let Him thus alone, all men will beheve on 
Him," said Caiaphas, the high priest ; " and the Romans 
will come and take away both our place and our nation " 
(St. John 1 1 : 48). 

(4) The erroneous conception of our Lord's mission. 
— Many of the patriotic Jews, and especially the Gali- 
leans, would gladly have rallied round Jesus, if He had 
proclaimed an insurrection and placed Himself at the 
head of a movement to throw off the hated Roman yoke 
(St. John 6: 15). They looked for the Messiah to raise 
the Jews again to a high place among the nations of the 
earth. It was this popular conception of the Messianic 
Kingdom which made Jesus so slow to assert His claim 
to be the Messiah. The spiritual character of the king- 
dom, as a kingdom not of this world (St. John 18: 36), 
must be first made clear, before the claim of the King 
could be pressed. Accordingly it was only very grad- 
ually that our Lord disclosed His Messianic claims. (See 
St. Mark I : 34, 37, 38 ; 7 : 3^ ; 9 : 9-) 

It was disappointment at our Lord's refusal to realise 
their hopes that led to the revulsion of feeling on the part 
of the crowds between Palm Sunday and Good Friday. 
They had escorted the Prophet to Jerusalem, thinking 
that now at length, and at the time of the Passover, which 
commemorated their fathers' deliverance from bondage 
in Egypt, He was about to lead a revolt against the Ro- 



152 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHERS MANUAL 

mans. When they found that the kingdom He would 
set up was a kingdom not of this world, but a rule over 
men's hearts, the reign of truth and justice, of love and 
purity, independent of any particular civil government, 
they had no use for Him, and in the bitterness of disap- 
pointment turned against Him. Away with this man; 
crucify Him; He will not serve our turn ! 

The Jews would not lift up their hearts to the spiritual 
hopes that Jesus set before them. The people generally, 
but more especially those who should have been their 
leaders and teachers, were blinded by worldly ambitions, 
so that they were not able to recognise the true meaning of 
their own prophetic Scriptures, which should have helped 
to prepare them to welcome Jesus. Ruled by pride and 
covetousness, they had not the ear to hear His message, nor 
the eye to perceive the beauty of His character. They 
were morally unfitted to enter into the kingdom. So the 
Baptist warned them (St. Luke 3 : 7-9) ; and so later our 
Lord denounced them (St. Matt. 23). Devout souls there 
were, represented by Zacharias and Ehzabeth, Simeon 
and Anna, Mary and Joseph, and the disciples of the 
Baptist, who were, however dimly, looking for the fulfill- 
ment of God's promises in a spiritual sense (St. Luke 
2 : 25-38 ; St. John i : 29). Such were ready to re- 
ceive Jesus. Those who were His sheep already heard 
the Shepherd's voice (St. John 10 : 3-5). 

VIII. The Passion 

{From Thursday evening to Saturday) 

(St. Mark 14, 15 ; St. Matthew 26, 27 ; St. Luke 22, 23; 
St. John 13-19.) The events of the Passion maybe con- 
sidered under the following heads : 

(1) In the Upper Room. 

(2) In G-ethsemane. 

(3) In the High Priest's Palace. 

(4) In Pilate's Court- 



THE LIFE OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST I53 

(5) The Crucifixion at Calvary. 

(6) The Burial. 

( 1 ) In the Upper Room. — Of what was said and done in 
the Upper Room St. John gives us the fullest account, 
though he omits the actual institution of the Sacrament 
of our Lord's Body and Blood, which when he wrote was 
quite famihar to Christian people. He tells us of our 
Lord's figurative act, before the Supper, in washing 
the feet of the disciples, giving them an example 
of lowly service to others (Chap. 13). He gives the 
long discourse of our Lord (Chaps. 14-16) that probably 
followed the Supper and the institution of the Eucharist, 
which was to be the perpetual memorial of His death and 
sacrifice, as the Paschal feast had been the memorial for 
Israel of their deliverance from bondage in Egypt. In 
this discourse our Lord prepared His disciples for His 
removal from them, first by His death the next day, and 
then by His ascension into Heaven, and promised that 
He would come again and be with them in a better and 
closer manner by His Spirit. Chapters 15 and 16 may 
have been spoken in the Temple court on the way to the 
garden of Gethsemane ; also the great prayer that fol- 
lowed (Chap. 17), in which Jesus reviewed His work on 
earth and interceded for His disciples. 

From St. Paul we have an earlier account of the insti- 
tution of the Holy Communion than those given by the 
Evangelists. We should compare I Cor. 11:23-25 
(written probably a. d. 55) with St. Mark 14:22-24; 
St. Matt. 26 : 26-28 ; St. Luke 22 : 17-20. 

(2) In Gethsemane. — For our Lord's prayer in Geth- 
semane we should read together St. Mark's account 
(Chap. 14 : 32-42) and St. Luke's (Chap. 22 : 40-46). St. 
John had given a prayer of our Lord offered on an earlier 
day in the week very similar to this (Chap. 12 : 27, 28). 

St. Matthew gives most details of the arrest of Jesus 
by the messengers of the chief priests led by Judas the 



154 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHERS MANUAL 

traitor (Chap. 26 : 47-56), but each of the other Evangel- 
ists adds some incidents to the narrative. 

(3) In the High Priest's Palace.— Jesus is taken first 
of all before Annas, who was the former high priest, and 
who may have lived in another part of the same house 
with Caiaphas, the actual high priest. Here were gathered 
together at night the leaders of the Jews in an informal 
assembly. They had already determined to put Him 
to death ; so now they tried to prove our Lord guilty 
of blasphemy by falsely claiming to be the Messiah, and 
were ready to use false witnesses for this purpose. Finally 
they condemned Him on His own statement made in re- 
ply to the high priest's solemn challenge. At this night 
meeting it would have been illegal to pronounce sentence ; 
so they adjourned until the morning, and then in a formal 
assembly of the Council (called the Sanhedrin) Jesus was 
condemned to death on this religious charge of blas- 
phemy. Meanwhile He had been handed over as a 
prisoner to the high priest's soldiers and attendants, and 
they shamefully abused Him. 

It was during the night trial before Caiaphas that Peter, 
overcome by fear and dismayed by all that had happened, 
denied that he had anything to do with Jesus. 

(4) In Pilate's Court.— Among subject peoples, the 
Romans reserved to themselves the power of capital pun- 
ishment ; so that the Jewish Council were obliged to 
bring Jesus before Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor, 
for sentence to execution. And as Pilate would take no 
notice of their religious charge of blasphemy, they had to 
bring against Jesus the civil charge of rebellion against 
the Roman emperor, and of claiming to be the King of 
the Jews. In the sense in which they intended the claim 
to be understood by Pilate, this was just what our Lord 
had refused to do, and by His refusal had forfeited the 
favour of the people. Pilate saw through their accusa- 
tions, and knew that they were really moved by envy. 
He tried by several expedients to release Jesus, or to get 



THE LIFE OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST I55 

rid of the case. One of these shifts was to send the Pris- 
oner to Herod from whose jurisdiction in Galilee He 
came, and who was in Jerusalem for the Passover. Herod 
had great curiosity to see Jesus, and wanted Him to per- 
form some miracle before him. Our Lord would not 
speak a single word to this wicked man who had heard 
and been impressed by John the Baptist, but had, against 
his conscience, ordered him to be beheaded to please the evil 
woman whom he had unlawfully taken for his wife. So 
Herod and his courtiers mocked our Lord as a pretender 
to the throne, and sent Him back to Pilate (St. Luke 
23 : 4-12 ; 9 : 9 ; St. Mark 6 : 14-28). 

Another expedient by which Pilate tried to avoid sen- 
tencing Jesus to death was to offer to release Him, even 
though guilty, in honour of the feast, a custom which the 
Romans granted to the Jews. But the people, incited by 
the chief priests, clamoured for the release of Barabbas, a 
brigand (as we might call him), the leader of a political 
revolt, in which he had committed murder. 

Pilate made a third effort to save the Prisoner's life by 
ordering Jesus to be scourged, and then appealing to the 
people's pity. But they were intent on His death, and 
finally Pilate yielded to their demand, even while he de- 
clared Jesus to be innocent of the charges brought against 
Him. 

Again He was mocked and ill-treated by the Roman 
soldiers, who despised the Jews, and vented their con- 
tempt in brutal treatment on one who was called the 
King of the Jews. 

(5) The Crucifixion at Calvary. — So Jesus was led to 
the place of ex'ecution outside the city walls. It was a 
mound called from its appearance Calvary, or a skull. 
There along with two robbers, perhaps members of the 
band headed by Barabbas, He was crucified, and a board 
fastened over His head to tell of the supposed crime for 
which He suffered) " Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the 
Jews." 



156 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER's MANUAL 

The seven sayings spoken by our Lord from the cross 
should be found out and noted : 

{a) The word of prayer for His enemies (St. Luke 

23 : 34). 

(b) The promise of pardon to the penitent robber, 
who was won by His patience (St. Luke 23:43). 

(c) The loving provision for the care of His mother 
by His beloved disciple (St. John 19 : 26, 27). 

(d) The prayer of complaint and expostulation 
quoted from Psalm 22 (St. Mark 15 : 34). 

(e) The expression of His bodily distress (St. John 
19 : 28). 

(/) The triumphant shout, telling that the victory 
was won (St. John 19 : 30). 

[g) The trustful commendation of His soul into His 
Father's hands (St. Luke 23 :46). 

The Evangelists vary in their notes of time during the 
Passion. St. John probably follows the Roman reckon- 
ing, like ours, and by "the sixth hour" (Chap. 19: 14) 
means that hour in the morning. By the third, sixth 
and ninth hours, St. Mark, following the Jewish reckon- 
ing, means nine o'clock in the forenoon, midday, and 
three in the afternoon (Chap. 15:25,33). But these 
hours were counted roughly, and sometimes stood for 
the time beginning with the hour mentioned and lasting 
through that division. 

The chief priests, the soldiers, and the people, all 
mocked our Lord hanging on the cross for His inability 
(as they thought) to save Himself, and for the overthrow 
of His claims. 

The darkened sky and the earthquake attested God's 
displeasure at the dreadful deed ; while the centurion, the 
officer of the Roman soldiers, who had watched the 
whole scene, was convinced that the crucified prophet 
was indeed " a righteous man," or (as He claimed) 
" God's Son." 

(6) The Burial.— As if in immediate fulfillment of 



THE LIFE OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST 1 5/ 

His declaration, " Lifted up from the earth, I will draw 
all men unto Me" (St. John 12 : 32 ; 8 : 28), Joseph of 
Arimathaea, a wealthy man, who had not before dared 
openly to acknowledge himself a disciple of Jesus, begged 
from Pilate the dead body of our Lord, and along with 
Nicodemus, a member of tne Jews' Council, who was also 
secretly a disciple, gave it honourable though hurried 
burial that evening before sunset, when the Sabbath 
would begin, in a cave in Joseph's garden, which was 
near the place of execution. 

(7) Its Moral Lessons and Spiritual Significance. — 
With an intelligent grasp of the events of our Lord's 
Passion, we ought to study (a) the moral lessons of the 
story, and {b) its spiritual significance. 

{a) In the Passion of Jesus Christ we see characters 
writ large. The workings of evil of which we are con- 
scious in ourselves, and which we observe in the world 
about us, we see depicted on a grand scale. The lengths 
to which sin may go are shown. The cross of Jesus is, 
so to speak, fashioned by the envy of the chief priests, 
the covetousness and worldliness of Judas, the cowardice 
of Pilate, the blinding sensuality of Herod, the fickleness 
of the people. 

Over against these vices represented by His enemies, 
we see in Jesus the splendid example of the virtues of 
loving obedience, and of perfect trust toward God, and 
of patience, meekness and generosity toward men. 

{fi) So we see the spiritual significance of our Lord's 
Passion. It not only gives us a perfect illustration and 
object-lesson of what God is, in His love and compassion, 
and of what man should be, after Christ's example, and 
of what sin is, which caused His suffering. It further 
shows us the victory through struggle of goodness over 
evil. (Comp. Gen. 3:15.) Jesus, the incarnate Son of 
God, as man's representative, does battle with our spir- 
itual foes. Behind the human agents in the Passion was 
Satan, the prince of this world, seeking to break down 



158 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER's MANUAL 

our Lord's obedience and love. He tests our Lord at 
every point, but each attack is beaten back (St. John 
14 : 30; 12 : 31). Jesus, as it were, bares His breast to 
the assault of the enemy and dares him to do his worst. 
•• You may bring My work to disaster before My eyes ; 
you may scatter My disciples ; you may heap upon Me 
insult and reproach and misrepresentation ; you may 
even take My bodily life : but break down My love and 
loyalty, that you shall not and cannot do." Jesus loses 
His lower life, that for Himself and us He may gain a 
higher life (St. Mark 8 : 33). It is thus that the Son of 
man gives His Hfe a ransom for many (St. Mark 10 :45). 

At the cost of His toil and of His self-sacrifice He res- 
cues us from the slavery in which we were held to sin 
and Satan. This is the explanation of His death which 
Jesus Himself gave in the parable or allegory of the Good 
Shepherd. The good shepherd risks and lays down his 
life in fighting against the beast of prey that would make 
havoc of the flock (St. John 10 : 1 1-18). 

Into this death of Christ to sin we are baptised, that it 
may be the law of conduct, and the power of a new life 
for us (Rom. 6 : 3-11).^ 



IX. The Resurrection 

(St. Mark 16 ; St. Matt. 28 ; St. Luke 24 ; St. John 20, 21) 

The different accounts. — There are without doubt dif- 
ficulties in harmonising the story of the Resurrection, 
and of the appearances of the risen Lord, as told by the 
different Evangelists. 

From St. Luke's Gospel, read by itself, it might seem 
as if all the manifestations were in Jerusalem, and per- 
haps all on one day, the day of the resurrection, though 
this would force us to think of the going out to Bethany 

1 On the Atonement, see Chap. VII in Gore's The New Theology and 
the Old Religion. 



THE LIFE OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST I 59 

and the Ascension as being quite late in the evening. 
This impression is corrected by St. Luke's later book, the 
Acts of the Apostles (which is a sequel to his Gospel), 
where he says that Jesus showed Himself to the Apostles 
alive after His Passion by many proofs, appearing unto 
them by the space of forty days (Acts i : 3). 

St. Matthew and St. John tell of appearances in Galilee 
and St. Mark implies this (Chap. 16:7). 

The last twelve verses (9-20) in St. Mark are almost cer- 
tainly a later compilation, substituted in very early times for 
the end of the story as he wrote it, which was lost, probably 
a page of the original manuscript having been destroyed. 
This passage stands on quite different grounds from the 
last chapter of St. John, which is a postscript by the same 
author as the earlier chapters. The Evangelists here, as 
elsewhere, follow or embody different traditions, and as 
usual St. John supplements the earher story with inci- 
dents which had been passed over. St. Paul in i Cor. 
1 5 : 4-7 tells of some other events, and especially of the 
appearance of our Lord to St. Peter (mentioned also by 
St. Luke) and to St. James. Of both these events he 
would naturally have learned on his first visit to Jerusalem 
after his conversion to the Christian faith, when he stayed 
with St. Peter and also saw St. James (Gal. 1:18, 19). 

The most probable order of events. — The most prob- 
able order of events would seem to be that which follows. 
Exactness in detail can hardly be expected when the ac- 
counts of several persons, concerning strange occurrences, 
are incorporated into independent narratives. 

{a) The women go to the sepulchre early on Sunday 
morning to anoint the body. Mary Magdalene starts 
back to the city on seeing that the stone at the mouth 
of the cave is rolled away. 

{b) The others see an angel (or angels), in human 
form, who bids them go and tell His disciples that the 
Lord is risen and will meet them in Galilee (St. Mark, 
St. Matt., St. Luke). 



l6o THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER's MANUAL 

(c) As they depart Jesus Himself meets them 
(St. Matt.). This may be another version of our Lord's 
appearance to Mary Magdalene. 

(<3f) Meanwhile, at Mary Magdalene's word, St. Peter 
and St. John had gone to the sepulchre. They saw the 
orderly disposition of the cloths which had been wrapped 
round the body, showing that there had been no robbery, 
and apparently that the Lord's body had passed through 
the wrappings, having been restored to life in an alto- 
gether changed condition (St. John). 

(e) Mary Magdalene followed St. Peter and St. John, 
and while weeping by the entrance to the cave, angels 
speak to her, and then she sees the Lord standing by 
her, mistaking Him at first for the gardener (St. John). 

(/) In the afternoon the Lord appears to two dis- 
ciples on the way to Emmaus (St. Luke). 

(^) They return, and find the eleven (actually the 
ten, for Thomas was not there) assembled in the evening, 
and rejoicing that the Lord has already appeared to 
Simon Peter. The appearance to the company of the 
disciples at Jerusalem (the Apostles and others), is com- 
mon to St. Luke and St. John (and to St. Mark), St. Luke 
and St. John each telling separate incidents. 

(//) Eight days later Jesus shows Himself again to the 
disciples, and in particular to St. Thomas (St. John). 

(i) After this, the Passover festival being past, the 
disciples go into GaHlee. There our Lord shows Him- 
self to seven of them by the lake (St. John). 

(j) And to the eleven, with probably a great number 
(the five hundred brethren of i Cor. 15 : 6), apparently 
gathered together by appointment, on one of the hills 
near the lake (St. Matt.). 

(k) After the eleven have returned again to Jeru- 
salem, Jesus appears to them on one or two occa- 
sions, and then leading them out of the city toward 
Bethany He is parted from them and ascends into heaven 
(St. Luke, St. Mark, Acts i : i to 12). 



THE LIFE OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST l6l 

Points of agreement in accounts. — Whatever difficulty 
there may be in determining the exact order of the events 
(and the independence of the several narratives is here, 
as elsewhere, a mark of trustworthiness), all the ac- 
counts agree in teUing of: — 

(i) Several appearances of the Lord after He had 
been put to death. 

(2) The effect on the disciples, convincing them, in 
spite of their unreadiness and lack of expectation, of the 
actual fact of His having risen from the dead. This, and 
this alone, accounts for the change in their attitude and 
temper, from discouragement and fear to joyful confidence 
and boldness. 

(3) None make any claim to describe the resurrection 
itself. " He is risen," is the constant word. We may 
contrast with this the detailed account of the actual resur- 
rection in the apocryphal Gospel of St. Petevy a writing 
probably of the middle of the second century.^ 

(4) All agree in representing the body of the risen 
Lord, while the same that had been crucified, as existing 
in an altogether changed condition. It is now what 
St. Paul calls " a spiritual body " (i Cor, 15 : 44), that is, 
a body which is freed from the limitations to which our 
bodies now are subject, and altogether under the control 
of the indwelling spirit. 

This explains the risen Lord's appearing for special 
purposes to one or another of the disciples, or to groups 
of them, at different times and under different forms. 
We may say perhaps that the risen body, which did not 
any more belong to this lower world, was capable of be- 
ing manifested here, rather than that it had the power of 
disappearing. 

The idea of a mere vision on the part of the disciples, 
by which in their mind's eye they saw the figure of the 
Lord, is quite incompatible with the accounts. More- 
over the Jews would without doubt have confronted 

» See Gilbert's Student' s' Life of Jesus, p. 317. 



1 62 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHERS MANUAL 

the disciples with the dead body of Jesus, as a refuta- 
tion of their story, if they had been able to produce it. 
Jesus and the resurrection was the substance of the 
Apostles' preaching (Acts 1 : 22 ; 2 : 32 ; 3 : 15 ; 4 : 2, 33 ; 
13:31; 17:18). 

We may have various conceptions of the nature of 
our Lord's risen body ; about this we must be quite clear 
from the Gospel narratives, that the sepulchre on Easter 
morning was empty ; the body that had been laid there 
had been reassumed by our Lord in a different condition. 

Purposes of our Lord's appearances. — The appear- 
ances of our Lord after the Resurrection, beside giving 
proof of His conquest of death, seem to have had two 
great purposes :— 

(i) To bring personal comfort to individual disci- 
ples.— As to the women in their bereavement, to Peter 
mourning over his fall, to Thomas in his doubt and per- 
plexity, to the two at Emmaus in their discourage- 
ment. 

(2) To give the great ministerial commissions. — To 
preach, to baptise, to absolve, to feed and tend the flock. 
These were among " the things concerning the kingdom 
of God " of which St. Luke tells us that Jesus spoke to 
the Apostles during the forty days (Acts i : 3). He pro- 
vided thus for His word of peace to be brought home to 
all sore hearts and wounded consciences, to perplexed 
minds and discouraged souls, for all time. When He 
was received up into heaven, the Apostles went forth and 
preached everywhere, the Lord working with them 
(St. Mark 16: 20). 

The Ascension. — It is in the Hght of the changed con- 
dition of our Lord's risen body that we are to understand 
what marks His final withdrawal from sensible contact 
with His disciples. The cloud received Him out of their 
sight. The human nature which had been assumed by 
the Son of God, in which He had accomplished our re- 
demption, was taken up into that glory which always be- 



THE LIFE OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST I63 

longed to Him in His divine person (St. John 17:5). 
** The right hand of God " signifies the highest place at 
once of honour and of power. There is Jesus enthroned, 
not at a distance from us, but, because withdrawn from 
earthly conditions, therefore able at any time and at any 
place to intervene on behalf of any of His people, and 
present with us by His Spirit all days even unto the end 
of the world.^ 

Helpful Books 

Beside books to which reference has been made on particular points, 
the following may be recommended for the whole subject : 

The Life and Times of Jesus, the Messiah. 2 vols. Edersheim. 

Longmans 2.00 

The Gospel According to Mark. Gould. (International Critical 

Commentary.) Scribner Net 2.50 

The Footprints of the Son of Man as Traced by St. Mark. Luckock. 

Longmans 1. 50 

The Student's Life of Jesus. Gilbert. Macmillan Net 1. 25 

The Four Gospels. Vol. I Ellicott's New Testament Commentary 
for English Readers. These Commentaries are published sep- 
arately in Ellicott's Handy Commentary. Cassell 1. 25 

1 For this section, see Swete's The Appearances of our Lord after the 
Passion ; Latham's The Risen Master; Westcott's The Revelation of the 
Risen Lord. 



V 
THE NEW TESTAMENT 

BY THE 

Rev. Charles Carroll Edmunds, B. A., B. D., 
Professor of the Literature a?id Interpretation of the New Testa- 
ment in the General Theological Seminary y New York 



THE NEW TESTAMENT 

I. General Introduction 

The New Testament is the title we give to the collec- 
tion of books which are the written witness of the New 
Testament or Covenant — for the Greek may be trans- 
lated by either English word — which God made with men 
in Jesus Christ our Lord, and which was sealed and con- 
secrated with His blood. 

None of these books was written by Jesus Christ Him- 
self. On the contrary, we have no record of His ever 
having written anything, save the words traced in the 
dust when the woman taken in adultery was brought 
before Him for judgment (St. John 8 : 6). 

Christ Himself the Word of God. — Nor, so far as we 
know, did He give any direction to His disciples to write 
any book or books. The revelation of God to the world 
was in the person of Jesus Christ. He was the " Word 
made flesh." God spoke to the world not simply in His 
sayings but in all that He did and suffered and was. No 
written book could have thus revealed God. So His 
Apostles were to be His " witnesses, both in Jerusalem 
and in all Judaea and Samaria and unto the uttermost part 
of the earth " (Acts i : 8). If their speeches and writings 
be examined it will be found that this was the exact char- 
acter of their work. They " testified " concerning Him. 
They preached Jesus and the Resurrection. It will be 
seen that the writing of books appeared to be no neces- 
sary part of their work. 

The earliest Gospel written a generation after 
Christ. — As a matter of fact, at least twenty years 



1 68 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER'S MANUAL 

elapsed after the Ascension before the earhest book of 
the New Testament was written, and this, the First 
Epistle to the Thessalonians, originated in a passing 
need, and was not intended by its human author as a 
treatise for all time, being indeed, as we shall see later, a 
letter of the Apostle St. Paul. The earliest of our present 
Gospels must be separated from the events it chronicles 
by more than twenty years, or a full generation, as we 
are wont to count. Yet during this period Christ was 
preached, multitudes were won to His service, the Church 
was spread abroad and ordered, and its worship developed. 
"Why the Gospels were not written earlier. — This 
state of things may appear strange to us, yet after all, it 
is perfectly natural. As long as those who had " com- 
panied with them " all " the time that the Lord Jesus 
went in and out among them," " beginning from the bap- 
tism of John until the day that He was received up," 
could speak out of their personal knowledge to all who 
wished to hear, written accounts would seem superfluous. 
The testimony of one who could say " that which we 
have heard, that which we have seen with our eyes, that 
which we beheld and our hands have handled . . . 
that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you " 
(i St. John I : 1-3) might well have greater power than 
written pages. Nor, even for those who might have 
wished it, was it so easy and simple a matter to " publish 
something," as in these days of printing-presses, cheap 
paper and universal ability to read. Copying by hand 
was slow and costly work, and parchment was valuable, 
then as now. Men did not write without need. And at 
first the need was not felt. The first disciples had no 
thought of preserving and handing down to long distant 
ages a minute account of the words and acts of their 
Master. To them His second coming and the full estab- 
lishment of His kingdom was a matter of a very short 
time. He would, they thought, come speedily, most 
likely during their own life — what necessity then, for 



THE NEW TESTAMENT 1 69 

such a chronicle ? The time was short, the day at hand. 

The interval were best spent in making ready. If this 
conception seem strange to us, after nineteen centuries 
have passed for the waiting Church, we may remember 
that our Lord expressly placed the time of the Judgment 
among the mysteries known to God alone. But we can 
easily understand how, when such an expectation pre- 
vailed, it never occurred to men to make provision for 
needs of far-off generations. 

The formation of the canon of the New Testament. — 
But God's providence brought about that which lay be- 
yond the power of human foresight. Gradually, " acci- 
dentally " as we speak, with no set purpose on the part 
of the men who wrote, with no clear understanding 
among their contemporaries of Avhat was taking place, 
but none the less under God's guidance and the inspir- 
ation of the Holy Spirit, there grew into existence those 
writings which the Church receives as the Scriptures of 
the New Testament. They were not, of course, one 
book at the beginning ; each had its individual occasion 
and history. At- first no one Church possessed them 
all. It was by degrees that collections were formed — the 
PauHne Epistles, the Gospels, the *• Cathohc," or General 
Epistles — and it was later yet that there was one volume, 
venerated and esteemed as Scripture, on a full equality 
with the sacred books of the Old Covenant. There were 
other writings, like the Epistle of Clement, Bishop of 
Rome and contemporary with the Apostles, or the Epistle 
of Barnabas, possibly the work of the companion of St. 
Paul, which for a while were thought by some worthy of 
a place in their number. But the spiritual consciousness 
of the Church, guided by the Holy Spirit, sifted and 
judged the books presented to it, and decided in favour 
of what are universally held to be the canonical books of 
Holy Scripture. The decision was never formulated in 
any ecumenical council, like that of Nicea or of Chal- 
cedon, although many local councils gave witness by 



I/O THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHERS MANUAL 

their decrees, and individual bishops pubHshed lists, but 
the Church as a whole almost instinctively reached the 
conclusion which has approved itself to the rehgious ex- 
perience of after generations. We can be quite sure here 
as elsewhere that there was no mistake in its judgment. 

How the New Testament has come down to us. — 
The books of the New Testament, various as they are in 
contents and in character, are all written in one language, 
Greek. It is probable that our Lord Himself usually 
spoke Aramaic, as did His fellow-countrymen — although 
He may well have understood Greek — but when His 
followers came to write they used the tongue then em- 
ployed over the whole civilised world. The original 
manuscripts have, of course, long ago perished, perhaps 
worn out by the pious hands of devout readers, or des- 
troyed in one of the many persecutions. No miracle 
has preserved for our wondering gaze, and possible super- 
stitious reverence, the handwriting of an Apostle. But the 
works themselves have been transmitted with a certainty 
and an accuracy beyond any secular writings of like date 
which we possess. We accept the works of Homer and 
Virgil, of Thucydides and Caesar, on the witness of a few 
manuscripts of late date. Of the New Testament we 
have about lOO early manuscripts in capital or uncial let- 
ters, and about 3,000 later manuscripts in a cursive or 
running hand. The uncials are all older than the ninth 
century, two dating from the fourth, and several from 
the fifth century. Each of course was copied from a yet 
older manuscript. 

A further witness to the originals is found in the 
various versions. Some of these are very ancient, the 
old Latin and Syriac, for instance, going back to the 
second century. They show how the books of the New 
Testament were read in that early age. Other testimony 
is found in the quotations in the Fathers of the Church. 
So an abundance of material — far beyond that existing in 
any other case — is found for ascertaining the exact words 



THE NEW TESTAMENT I/I 

written by the Apostles, and chance blunders of copyists 
are corrected by the multitude of manuscripts. It is by 
this sort of comparison that many of the corrections in 
the Revised Version were made. 

Chapters and verses. — The reader must remember that 
the division into chapters and verses, such as we com- 
monly find in our printed English Bibles, does not exist 
in the original but has come about chiefly as a means of 
ready reference. The arrangement of chapters was first 
devised by Cardinal Hugo St. Cher in 1230 a. d., while 
we owe our verses to a much later editor, Stephens, in 
1550. An arrangement in paragraphs, such as we find 
in the Revised Version, is a great help in understanding. 

II. The Gospels 

What the Gospels are. — Among the books of the New 
Testament we place the Gospels first, although, as we 
have already mentioned and as will soon be shown more 
fully, they are not the earliest books in composition. 
The word " Gospel " means " good news," and is used in 
the New Testament of the " good news " of God, made 
known to men in the person of His Son and preached to 
the world by the Apostles. A glance at Romans i : 1-4 
and 2 St. Tim. 2 : 8, or a study of the missionary ad- 
dresses in Acts, will show that •* Gospel " is practically 
equivalent to the great facts in the life of Jesus Christ. 
It is easy therefore to see how this term has been trans- 
ferred to the books which contain the narrative of that 
Life. It is well to remember that the full title, as it now 
runs, of these books is " The Gospel according to ' St. 
Matthew, St. Mark, St. Luke or St. John ; that the 
original title was probably simply " According to " such 
an author ; and that, properly speaking, they are not so 
much four different " Gospels " as different accounts of 
those great events which constitute the Gospel.^ 

1 Compare with article on Life of Christ, p. 126 et seq.. 



1/2 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER'S MANUAL 

Why the Gospels were written. — They came into 
existence as the spread of the Church and the death of the 
many eye-witnesses of the works and death and resurrec- 
tion of Christ made it seem desirable that there should be 
some permanent records which could be circulated and 
handed down. Probably, too, the process of time and the 
spiritual discernment of the Church had made it plain 
that the Second Coming might be long delayed. No 
doubt from the very first many of the sayings and par- 
ables of Jesus had been taught believers, and the story of 
the Passion had been rehearsed. Many have thought 
that regular instruction was given in these by catechists. 
Beside these oral traditions, which would be carefully 
guarded, written accounts, more or less complete, seem 
soon to have been compiled. This we are expressly 
told in the preface to the Gospel according to St. Luke, 
where also we may get a glimpse of the motives which 
might urge an Evangelist. ** Forasmuch as many have 
taken in hand to draw up a narrative concerning those 
matters which have been fulfilled among us, even as they 
delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were 
eye-witnesses and ministers of the Word, it seemed good 
to me also, having traced the course of all things ac- 
curately from the first, to write unto thee in order, most 
excellent Theophilus, that thou mightest know the 
certainty concerning the things wherein thou wast in- 
structed." Here we recognise the natural character of 
the impulse which led Luke to write, we note his men- 
tion of many previous attempts, and we see his object is 
to give complete knowledge to one who has already been 
'• instructed " — the original Greek is " catechised " — in 
the life and teachings of Christ. If no such introduc- 
tion is prefixed to the other Gospels we may at all events 
conclude that their purpose was not far different. 

The Synoptic Gospels.— A very slight acquaintance 
with the Gospels will make us aware of a striking fact ; 
viz., that the first three follow much the same plan, and 



THE NEW TESTAMENT 1 73 

give nearly the same incidents and discourses, frequently 
in identical language, while the fourth commonly mentions 
matters omitted by the other three, and passes over in 
silence a great part of that which they record. This 
characteristic becomes even more evident when they are 
studied in parallel columns with the aid of a " Harmony." 
It has caused students of the New Testament to speak of 
the first three Gospels as Synoptic (from a Greek word- 
which signifies " having the same view ") in distinction 
from the Gospel according to St. John, which must be 
placed in a class by itself. This strong resemblance has 
naturally suggested the idea of possible interdependence, 
or dependence on a common source or sources, and these 
questions, and others to which they give rise, constitute 
the " Synoptic Problem," which exercises the learning 
and ingenuity of scholars and is yet far from final solu- 
tion. It will be unnecessary to discuss it here, but it 
may perhaps be said that the answers given may be 
divided into two classes. The adherents of the docu- 
mentary hypothesis suppose that an original Gospel, prob- 
ably our St. Mark, was in the hands of the writers of the 
other two Gospels and that they made large use of it, 
supplementing its statements with further information 
furnished by other documents in their possession. The 
supporters of the oral hypothesis, mainly Englishmen, 
believe that the sayings and acts of Christ were taught in 
the catechetical schools and learned by heart by the first 
disciples, in accordance with well-known Oriental meth- 
ods, and that all three of the Synoptic Gospels are based 
upon this oral tradition. We will not attempt a decision 
but simply suggest that there may be truth in both 
theories. 

The character of the Gospels.— At all events, what- 
ever the sources from which their human authors draw 
their information, we need entertain no doubts of their 
truthfulness and accuracy. The simplicity, vividness, 
sobriety and honesty which form their characteristic 



1/4 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHERS MANUAL 

atmosphere testify most strongly in their favour as truth- 
ful reports of the earthly life of Him whom all history 
and the general verdict of mankind own to have been the 
purest and greatest Teacher the world has known. Here, 
and here only, are worthy accounts of the ministry, work, 
death and resurrection of Him whom we worship as Lord 
and God. 

The Apocryphal Gospels. — In sharp and instructive 
contrast to the transparent truthfulness of the genuine 
Gospels stands the tawdry, artificial, fantastic fiction of the 
so-called Apocryphal Gospels. These are legendary nar- 
ratives, some dating back to about one hundred years 
after our Gospels, manifestly starting from them and 
raising on their foundation a bewildering structure of 
fancy. Let any one read these stories of Jesus as a lad 
making pigeons of mud and causing them to fly, or 
striking dead another boy who had angered Him by 
tearing down a dam He had built, or, at the resurrection, 
towering aloft with a head that reached the heavens, or 
any of the countless other puerile stories, and he can 
easily see what the Gospels would have been, had they 
been mere works of imagination. 

III. The Synoptic Gospels 
St. Mark's Gospel 

Contents.— Owing to their similarity, of which we have 
spoken above, the Synoptic Gospels are best studied to- 
gether. It will be found practically convenient to begin 
with the Gospel of St. Mark, since it is the shortest and 
since it seems to have furnished the plan for the other 
two. Its brevity will be seen to be largely due to two facts : 
(i) It begins with the preaching of John the Baptist 
and the Baptism of Christ. (2) It is mainly a Gospel of 
action, and contains few long discourses or parables. 
The marked exception to this statement is the long 
prophecy in chapter 1 3. 



THE NEW TESTAMENT 1/5 

Its vividness.— The style is vivid, simple, and in the 
original almost rude. There is little evidence of literary 
skill, but on the other hand abundant tokens that the 
statements are due to an eye-witness. The descriptions 
are graphic, full of fresh, lifelike touches. It gives the 
attitude, the look, the gesture of Christ. It tells us how 
" He looked around," how " He turned Him about in the 
press," how " He looked up," how " He sat down and 
called the twelve," how He took little children " up in 
His arms and put His hands upon them," how " He was 
in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow," etc., 
etc. We feel the majesty of Christ, His energy, and 
power, and His deep human sympathy. It is the Gospel 
of Him who " was declared to be the Son of God with 
power " (Rom. i : 4). 

Its authorship.— Tradition uniformly assigns this Gos- 
pel to St. Mark and criticism goes to confirm it. His 
name occurs eight times in the New Testament (Acts 
12:12, 25; 15 -.37, 39; Col. 4:10; Philemon 24 ; 2 St. 
Tim. 4:11 ; i St. Pet. 5:13). The early Fathers tell us 
that he was the interpreter of St. Peter, and that after the 
death of the Apostle he compiled this Gospel from his 
recollections of Peter's teachings. This testimony of the 
ancients is largely borne out by the contents of the book, 
since, while St. Peter is not made unduly prominent, there 
are particulars which could be derived only from him. 
Tradition also states that the Gospel was written in Rome 
and for the Roman Church, and this finds corrobo- 
ration in the Evangelist's use of several Latin words. 
The date cannot be fixed with certainty but may be 
placed between 65 and 70 A. d. The last eleven verses 
as they stand in our Authorised Version are probably a 
later addition to replace the original ending, which was 
perhaps lost or torn off. 

Its plan.— The whole book may be divided into two 
great themes, the Ministry in Galilee, I : 14-9 : 50 and 
the Last Week in Jerusalem, 11:1-16:8. The first 



1^6 THE SUNDAV-SCHOOL TEACHEr's MANUAL 

fourteen verses are an introduction and chapter lo is a 
brief survey of the period intervening between the two 
great divisions. 



St. Matthew's Gospel 

Its authorship.— Matthew, or Levi, was a pubHcan, or 
tax-gatherer, before his call to apostleship, and so per- 
haps was better accustomed than the other disciples to 
taking notes and making memoranda. The ancient 
Fathers tell us he wrote a Gospel in Hebrew, though the 
earliest accounts speak simply of a collection of "say- 
ings " — whatever that may mean. At all events there is 
no Hebrew Gospel extant, and our present Gospel is not 
a translation, but was originally written in the Greek lan- 
guage. However, it seems clear that St. Matthew's Gos- 
pel is written with direct reference to the Jews, and to 
their objections to belief in Jesus Christ. 

Its plan.— The narrative is arranged to show that Jesus 
is the Messiah predicted and expected of old ; that He 
came to set up His kingdom ; that He was rejected by 
the Jewish people through their official representatives ; 
that what they refused was welcomed by the Gentiles ; 
and that the true IsraeHte must find the reahsation of his 
hopes in the Christian Church. Old Testament prophecy 
is frequently quoted. The birth of Christ is shown to 
have taken place in Bethlehem, David's city. His gene- 
alogy is traced in the royal line. 

Its characteristics.— The most noticeable characteristics 
of the Gospel are the long discourses — like the Sermon on 
the Mount (Chaps. 5-7), the denunciation of the Phari- 
sees (Chap. 23), and the prophecy of the end of the na- 
tion and the age (Chaps. 24, 25) — and the many parables, 
such as the group in chapter 13 concerning the Kingdom 
of Heaven. It will be noticed that St. Matthew uses this 
latter term while the other Evangelists speak of the 
" Kingdom of God." It may be observed that the Evan- 



THE NEW TESTAMENT 177 

gelist commonly arranges his incidents, or miracles, or 
parables in groups of three. 

Analysis.— The following brief analysis may help in the 
study of this Gospel : 



(0 


Birth and Infancy of Jesus 


Christ, 


i., ii. 


(2) 


Preparation for the Public Work of 






Jesus ... 


- 


iii. 


(3) 


The Ministry in Galilee 


- 


iv. i2-xviii. 35 


(4) 


Journey in Peraea 


- 


xix., XX. 


(5) 


Holy Week 


- 


xxi.-xxv. 


(6) 


Passion 


- 


xxvi., xxvii. 


(7) 


The Resurrection 


- 


xxviii. 



St. Luke's Gospel 

Its authorship.— That the author of the third Gospel 
was Luke, " the beloved physician " of St. Paul and his 
companion in much of his missionary travel, has been 
the constant tradition of the Christian Church, and mod- 
ern critics find internal corroboration in many of its char- 
acteristics. The terms used for sickness belong to the 
technical phraseology of that day ; there is an interest 
shown in the poor, the sick and the weak, and a disposi- 
tion to make prominent the compassion of Jesus Christ. 

Its characteristics.— It is remarkable also that most 
of the incidents in which women figure prominently, 
find place in this Gospel. It is here that we read of the 
Annunciation to Mary, of her Magnificat and of her 
pondering ail these things in her heart. Here too we 
are told of Elizabeth and her greeting of the Virgin ; 
of Anna the prophetess ; of Martha, cumbered about 
much serving, and Mary at Christ's feet ; of the woman 
who was a sinner, and washed the Lord's feet with her 
tears ; of the widow of Nain ; of the " daughters 
of Jerusalem " ; of the women who followed from 
Galilee, who prepared ♦' spices and ointment " for the 
dead body of Jesus, and of their going early in the 



178 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER's MANUAL 

morning to the sepulchre, to see angels who declared 
" He is not here, He is risen." In this Gospel also are 
the parables of the Lost Sheep, and of the Prodigal Son, 
of the Good Samaritan and of the Pharisee and of the 
Publican. We are given pictures of the Stable at Beth- 
lehem and of the Shepherds, of Jesus in the Temple, 
of the Wilderness of Temptation — recorded also by St. 
Matthew — of the Weeping over Jerusalem, of the Bloody 
Sweat in the Garden, of the Penitent Thief on the Cross. 
The loving, all-embracing mercy of the Divine Master, 
the world-wide salvation He came to effect, seem to be 
the special thought of this writer. Possibly the fact that 
he himself was a Gentile has something to do with it. 

The peculiar contents of this Gospel. — The peculiar 
contents of this Gospel beyond scattered incidents and 
sayings, are the story of the Infancy and Childhood, dif- 
fering from the corresponding narrative in Matthew in 
that it seems written from the view-point of Mary, as 
that other from the view-point of Joseph ; and the long 
account of the Peraean ministry (Chap. 9:51-18:14). 
The date of the Gospel is perhaps 70-80, though various 
authorities place it both later and earlier. We may 
make the following analysis ; 



Analysis : 




(i) Preface ... - 


- i. 1-4 


(2) Birth and Infancy 


- i. 5-ii- 52 


(3) Preparation for Public Work 


- iii. i-iv. 13 


(4) Galilean Ministry 


- iv. 14-ix. 50 


(5) Final Journey to Jerusalem - 


- ix. 51-xix. 28 


(6) Holy Week 


- xix. 29-xxii. 71 


(7) Good Friday 


- xxiii. 


(8) Resurrection to Ascension - 


- xxiv. 



IV. St. JOHN'S Gospel 

Clement of Alexandria, writing about the year 200, 
states on the authority " of the elders of an earlier gen- 



THE NEW TESTAMENT 179 

eration " that " John, last, when he saw that the outward 
facts had been set forth in the (other) Gospels, impelled 
by his friends, and divinely moved by the Spirit, made a 
spiritual Gospel." Other evidence, and the whole in- 
ternal character of the fourth Gospel, go to confirm this 
statement. It is clearly the work of one acquainted with 
the Synoptics, who tries to supplement, complete and 
confirm the others, and, at the same time, silently to cor- 
rect possible misapprehensions on the part of their readers. 
As the Synoptics dwell chiefly on the Ministry of Christ 
in Galilee, St. John makes prominent His work in Jeru- 
salem. He passes over in silence the Birth, Infancy, 
Baptism, Temptation, Sermon on the Mount, Transfigur- 
ation, and the Institution of Baptism and the Holy Com- 
munion. He relates no parables and records compara- 
tively few miracles, the Feeding of the Five Thousand 
being the only narrative of this sort common to all four. 
On the other hand, he prefaces his Gospel with the sol- 
emn setting forth of the Incarnation of the Word of 
God ; in his third and sixth chapters, he gives long dis- 
courses which the Church has taken as referring to the doc- 
trine of the two great sacraments ; and he has recorded 
at length our Lord's farewell words to His disciples in 
the Upper Room, including His promise of the Comforter, 
the Holy Spirit, and His great High-Priestly prayer. 
Throughout, the profoundest spiritual truths are set forth 
in the simplest words, so that this Gospel has ever been a 
special favourite with the learned and the unlearned. He 
pictures the witness of Jesus Christ as accepted or re- 
jected of men, and their belief or unbelief as really de- 
termined by their own character. The purpose of the 
book is summed up thus, " Many other signs did Jesus 
in the presence of His disciples which are not written in 
this book ; but these are written that ye might believe 
that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God ; and that 
believing ye might have hfe through His name " 
(20:30,31). 



I So THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER's MANUAL 

A later addition.— In the Revised Version of the Bible 
(Chaps. 7 : 53-8 : ii) the story of the woman taken in 
adultery will be found placed in brackets. This is be- 
cause it is wanting in many manuscripts and probably 
was no part of the original Gospel, although we may 
accept it as actually true. Chapter 21 — undoubtedly a 
part of the Gospel — appears as if added by the writer as 
an afterthought. 

It seems probable that the Gospel was written at 
Ephesus about the year 90. The following is practically 
Bishop Westcott's analysis : 



Analysis : 




The Prologue 

(I) The self-revelation of Christ to the 


i. 1-18 


world 


i. 19-xii. 50 


(i) The Proclamation 


i. 19-iv. 54 


{a) The Testimony of 
Christ - 


i. 19-ii. II 


(b) The Work of Christ - 


ii. 13-iv. 54 


(2) The Conflict 


V. i-xii. 50 


{a) The Prelude - 


v., vi. 


{b) The Great Contro- 




versy 
(II) The Self-revelation of Christ to the 


vii.-xii. 


Disciples 

(i) The last Ministry of Love 
(2) The Victory through Death - 
The Epilogue 


xiii.-xx. 
xiii.-xvii. 
xviii.-xx. 
xxi. 



V. The Acts of the Apostles 

Its cliaracter.— This is the one book of the New Testa- 
ment which treats of Church history. We note how the 
opening verses allude to " the former treatise," which its 
author, St. Luke, had already written for his friend 
Theophilus, and how he says that the Gospel tells of the 
things which Jesus began to do and teach before He 
was taken up. We may regard this, then, as the narra- 



THE NEW TESTAMENT l8l 

tive of the continuation of Christ's work, performed 
through His Apostles. It is the story of the expansion 
of the Church from its small beginnings until, in the per- 
son of St. Paul, it reaches Rome. In its course we see 
how the Apostles themselves came to understand more 
fully the nature of the work for which they were com- 
missioned, and especially the world-wide character of the 
Church, which necessarily involved not only the admis- 
sion of the Gentiles on a full equality with the Jews, but 
also the passing away of the Jewish Law itself. 

" "We."— It is interesting in connection with the author- 
ship to observe the " we " passages, where the writer 
evidently gives us a hint of his companionship with St. 
Paul at certain times and places. Such passages are 
i6: 10-17 ; 20: 5-15 ; 21 : 1-18 ; 2J — 28 : 16. 

Its outline.—" The outline of the book is laid down in 
the words of our Lord quoted in 1:8,* Ye shall receive 
power after the Holy Ghost is come upon you, and ye 
shall be witnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem, and in all 
Judaea and Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the 
earth.' " 

Analysis : 

(i) The Church at Jerusalem - - i.-vii. 

(2) Judaea, Samaria, and Antioch; 

St. Paul's Conversion - - viii.-xii. 

(3) St. Paul's First Missionary Journey, xiii.-xv. 35 

(4) Second Missionary Journey - - xv. 36-xviii. 22 

(5) Third Missionary Journey - - xviii. 23-xxi. 15 

(6) St. Paul's Arrest, Imprisonment 

and Voyage to Rome - - xxi. 17-xxviii. 

VI. The Pauline Epistles 

Epistles or letters. — A very large part of the New 
Testament is made up of the Epistles, and of these thir- 
teen are due to St. Paul. It may seem like a common- 
place to remind people that an epistle is merely another 



1 82 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER's MANUAL 

name for a letter, but experience shows that this fact is 
constantly forgotten when the Epistles of the New Testa- 
ment are under consideration. People study them as if 
they were abstract treatises in theology, or ethics, or 
Church government, and neglect to ask the questions we 
always put concerning a letter — Who wrote it? To 
whom was it written ? Under what circumstances ? At 
what time ? Thus no part of the Bible has been so mis- 
interpreted as St. Paul's Epistles. If we are to under- 
stand a letter hke First Corinthians, or even Hke Romans, 
which much more nearly approaches a formal treatise in 
character, we must remember that the Apostle is meet- 
ing questions of his own day, and not taking part in the 
theological controversies of the sixteenth century, or dis- 
cussing the peculiar problems of the twentieth. Our 
guidance will be found in the principles which lie behind 
the particular appHcations made in the letters. To reach 
these we must know something of the man who wrote 
them, something of those to whom they were addressed, 
and something of the circumstances which called them 
forth. Perhaps the best help to an understanding will be 
an acquaintance with St. Paul's life, the extent of his mis- 
sionary labours, and of the peculiar difficulties presented by 
the relations between Jews and Gentiles, and between Gen- 
tile Christians and the heathen among whom they lived. 

The " Fifth Gospel."— One feature of the Epistles is of 
the utmost value — their witness to the facts of the Gos- 
pel story. A great part of the Epistles was written be- 
fore the first of the Gospels, and all of St. Paul's Epistles 
are much earlier than St. John's Gospel. But in a mul- 
titude of allusions they testify to the common belief, on 
the part of both the writer and the readers, of all those 
facts concerning God and Jesus Christ, which were after- 
ward recorded in the Gospels. The importance of this 
testimony, especially in regard to the Resurrection, con- 
cerning which St. Paul speaks so fully in i Corinthians 
15, can hardly be overestimated. 



THE NEW TESTAMENT I83 

The use of a secretary. — St. Paul commonly — perhaps 
because of weak eyesight — dictated his letters to an 
amanuensis who wrote them out for him. In Romans 
16: 22, the amanuensis, Tertius, inserts his own greeting. 
From 2 Thessalonians 3: 17 we learn that the Apostle 
authenticated his letters by adding a few words himself. 
We note he follows this practice in i Corinthians 16: 21- 
24, and Colossians 4: 18. In the postscript to the 
Galatians 6 : 11-18, he calls attention to the large size of 
his letters, in comparison with his secretary's neat pen- 
manship. The short personal letter to Philemon was, 
contrary to his habit, written with his own hand. 

Lost letters. — Of the various letters preserved to us 
nine are written to Churches, and four to individuals. 
Ephesians was probably a circular letter. Colossians was 
to be sent to Laodicea in exchange for a lost Epistle to 
that place (Col. 4 : 16), unless, as is quite possible, 
Ephesians be the Epistle " from Laodicea." At least one 
more letter than the two we now possess was written to 
the Corinthians (i Cor. 5 : 9). 

The four groups. — The Epistles divide themselves into 
four groups, according as they are connected with four 
periods of St. Paul's hfe. The dates assigned below are 
those preferred by most modern critics although others 
would place them from two to five years earlier. The 
groups and dates are as follows : — 

(i) A. D. 53, I and 2 Thessalonians. 

(2) A. D. 57, 58, I and 2 Corinthians, Galatians and 
Romans. 

(3) A. D. 62, 63, Ephesians, Colossians, Philemon, 
Philippians. 

(4) A. D. 65, Titus, I and 2 St. Timothy. 



The First Group 

The two Epistles to the Thessalonians were written to 
the Christians of Thessalonica, the modern Salonica, a 



184 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER's MANUAL 

chief town of Macedonia, not far from Mount Olympus. 
They were sent from Corinth, only a few months after 
Paul's preaching in Macedonia, and were separated by a 
very short interval — less than a year. 

First Thessalonians. — The occasion of the first Epistle 
was the arrival at Corinth of Timothy with news from 
Thessalonica. The new converts had become unduly 
excited and anxious over the state of the departed and 
the coming of Christ. He writes to calm and console 
them and to exhort them to the practical performance 
of daily duty. An analysis might run as follows : 

Analysis : 

Salutation and Thanksgiving 

The Character of the Apostle's former work - 

Thanksgiving again and Desire to visit them - 

Timothy's Journey 

Encouragement, Exhortation, the Blessed Dead 
and Christ's Coming . - - - 

Practical Conclusion - - - - 

Second Thessalonians. — Second Thessalonians seems 
to have been called forth by the continuing excitement 
and confusion at Thessalonica. Sure of Christ's speedy 
advent, Christians were neglecting their daily duty. The 
Apostle declares the day of Judgment will be preceded 
by certain events of which he speaks in mysterious lan- 
guage. Perhaps the " Man of sin " means hostile Juda- 
ism, and the power that " lets " or restrains is the Roman 
government, which was protecting the infant Church by 
its law. The following is an analysis : 

Analysis : 

(i) Salutation and Thanksgiving - - - - i, 

(2) Warning against unsettling Fears and Exhortation 

to Steadfastness ii. 

(3) Request for Prayers, Practical Injunctions, and 

Farewell Greetings - - * ' - iii» 



1. 




ii. 


1-12 


ii. 


13-20 


iii 




iv. 


-V. 3 


v. 


4-28 



THE NEW TESTAMENT 1 8$ 

The Second Group 

The second group consists of the four great Epistles, 
I and 2 Corinthians, Galatians and Romans, which may 
be placed about five years later than the preceding group, 
during 57 and 58 a. d. In these we have the Apostle at 
the fullness of his power. During the interval he had 
pushed his missionary labours until flourishing churches 
had been established in many cities of Asia Minor, 
Macedonia and Greece. But with the growth of the 
Church, problems had multipHed and difficulties had be- 
come intense. 

Questions. —The most serious question was regarding 
the relation of Christians to the Mosaic Law. Were 
Gentiles obliged to observe it ? To answer in the af- 
firmative would have reduced the Christian Church to a 
Jewish sect. To answer negatively seemed to the earnest 
Jew a contradiction of the privileges and promises which 
he had been taught belonged to his people. Further, 
was the Law still binding on the Jews ? Were there to 
be two classes in the Christian Church, one keeping the 
rules of the old Dispensation and finding in this obedi- 
ence a ground of acceptance with God, and a second class, 
composed of Gentiles, admitted on sufferance, and ex- 
empt by concession from the obligations which yet clung 
to the Jewish Christians ? Or, was there but one ground 
of acceptance with God, faith in Jesus Christ, and were 
the observances of the Old Law utterly unable to com- 
mend men to God ? 

St. Paul's attitude. — St. Paul became the champion of 
the catholicity of the Church. He had himself experi- 
enced the entire inadequacy of the Mosaic Covenant ; he 
had found in the Gospel of Jesus Christ the one power 
of his own salvation, and in obedience to the command 
of Christ he had preached this hope to the Gentiles. But 
the very progress thus made stirred many of the Jewish 
Christians to fierce opposition. He seemed to them to 
be contravening the promises given to Israel. They be- 



1 86 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER's MANUAL 

gan to form a party and took the name of James " the 
Lord's brother," bishop of Jerusalem, as their rallying 
point. They even sent emissaries into Pauline Churches 
declaring that St. Paul was contradicting the teaching of 
St. Peter and St. James and the Twelve, and that indeed 
St. Paul had no rightful claim to Apostolic authority. 
So the Apostle Paul was obliged both to vindicate his 
own claim to the Apostolic character, as he does very 
fully in Galatians i, and elsewhere, and also to develop 
his doctrinal teaching, as in this same Epistle and even 
more fully and somewhat more calmly, in the Epistle to 
the Romans. 

The four great Epistles therefore, and especially the 
first three, are of mingled personal and doctrinal char- 
acter, and show anxiety lest his converts be led astray by 
false teachers. 

First Corinthians. — The two Epistles to the Corinthians 
were written from Ephesus, and in the same year. The 
former is in answer to a letter from the Corinthians, ask- 
ing advice on certain points, regarding some of which 
he had written a letter which has not come down to us. 
Corinth was a great cosmopolitan city of half a milHon 
people, full of commercial and intellectual activity, and 
the seat of a peculiarly licentious heathen worship. The 
new Christians were mainly Gentiles ; they were tempted 
to regard religion as a doctrinal system, a basis for argu- 
mentation and for daring speculations. With them, as 
with all Greeks of the period, philosophy and rhetoric 
had great power, and " knowledge " and " wisdom " pos- 
sessed something of the magical influence which the 
terms " science " and " reason " do with some to-day. 
Discussions naturally led to parties and partisanship. 
Then the prevalent impurity had its temptations for Chris- 
tians just escaped from heathenism, and some perverted 
Paul's teaching of freedom from Mosaic Law into free- 
dom from moral law. There were those who denied the 
future resurrection, claiming that the new life was entered 



THE NEW TESTAMENT 1 8/ 

into when they became Christians. There were serious 
moral disorders and divisions between rich and poor. 
There were many who contemned the Apostolic authority 
of St. Paul. 

Analysis : 

The following is the outUne of the first Epistle : 



(I) 


Introduction 


i. 1-9 


(2) 


Body of the Epistle - - - - 
(^) The Factions in the Church 


i. lo-xv. 
i. lo-iv. 21 




(b) The moral corruptions - 

(r) Answers to questions about mar- 


v.-vi. 20 




riage ----- 
(^) The eating of meats offered to 


vii. 1-40 




idols 


viii.i-xi. I 


(3) 


(^) Public worship - - 

(/) Spiritual Gifts 

Ig) Resurrection of the Body 

Conclusion 

(a) The Collection for the Poor at 


xi. 2-34 
xii.-xiv. 

XV. 

xvi. 




Jerusalem . - - - 
(d) Plans - ... - 


xvi. 1-4 
xvi. S-18 




(c) Salutations - - - . 


xvi. 19-24 



Second Corinthians. — There seems to have been either 
a visit or another lost letter between the two Epistles to 
the Corinthians. The second of our Epistles is of a very 
mingled character, full of personal feehng. The early 
portion speaks of encouragement, the latter part contains 
sharp expostulations. 

Analysis : 

(i) The expression of St. Paul's thank- 
fulness, especially for the penitence 
of the offender - . . - i.-ii. 

(2) The Apostle's ministry - - - iii.-vii. i 

(3) The Corinthian Church and Titus - vii. 2-ix. 15 

(4) A Sorrowful Expostulation and Warn- 

ing x.-xii. 



1 88 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER's MANUAL 

Galatians. — We do not know the exact date of Gala- 
tians, nor whence it was written, nor whether those to 
whom the letter was addressed hved in North Galatia 
and were converts gained in some journey of which we 
know nothing, or were South Galatians and the inhabit- 
ants of Derbe, Lystra, Iconium, etc. But it was written 
at this period and before the Epistle to the Romans, as 
the style and contents make plain. The chief argument 
of the Epistle, directed against the Judaising party, is 
that the true sons of Abraham are those who, Hke him, 
put their faith in the Promise of God, reahsed in Jesus 
Christ. The " Law " came later than the promise and 
could not nullify it. The Law was really inferior to the 
Gospel and temporary. It revealed sin by its injunc- 
tions, and provided no remedy. The Law had played the 
part of a " tutor," or nursery-governess, preparing men in 
their spiritual childhood for their full manhood in Christ. 

Analysis : 

(i) St. Paul's Vindication of his Apostleship - i., ii. 

(2) Justification by Faith ... - iii.^ iv. 

(3) Practical Exhortation and Conclusion - v., vi. 

Romans. — St. Paul had never been in Rome when he 
wrote to that city, and it is unlikely that it had been 
visited by any other Apostle. Yet there was a Christian 
Church there, partly Jewish and partly Gentile in its con- 
stituent elements. There were " sojourners from Rome " 
among the crowd which listened on Pentecost. As it 
was the capital of the empire, men resorted there from 
the whole world and every rehgion was represented by 
some adherents. It is not then surprising to find dis- 
ciples here already so numerous as to receive this letter. 
Moreover St. Paul had his vision fixed on the great me- 
tropolis as the centre of vast influence for good or evil. 
He had longed for years, as he tells us, to preach there. 
Unable to carry out his wish he writes desiring to set 



THE NEW TESTAMENt I89 

forth as fully as possible that doctrine of the universality 
of the Gospel which it has been his mission to assert. 
He writes with care and method, with less of personal 
feeling than at other times, and yet with full intensity of 
conviction, so that we have here his most powerful writ- 
ing and a close approach to a formal theological treatise. 
Yet even m this case, where there is least of the merely 
local and accidental, we must beware of the idea that we 
have here a scholastic disquisition, and must be careful 
how we read into the words notions derived from the 
controversies of after ages. 

The theme is the great fact that the one Saviour is 
Jesus Christ, that the one ground of acceptance as His dis- 
ciple is belief and self-surrender, and that in this common 
justification of Jew and Gentile by the free grace of 
God, we have the fulfillment of His everlasting purpose. 
The universal presence of sin ought to convince all that 
neither natural nor revealed law can enable men to be 
truly righteous before God. The real use of law is to 
awaken men to the consciousness of sin. What law 
could not do has been done for men by God in Jesus 
Christ. That the Gentiles are being admitted to privi- 
leges which were once the hope of God's ancient people 
does not mean that He has been unfaithful to His promise. 
He has a right to choose whom He will to carry out His 
purpose in the world. The Jews have rejected their op- 
portunity, and yet God has not given them up, and ulti- 
mately His purpose will be carried out in them also. 

The Epistle seems to have been written from Corinth 
early in 58 a. d. 

Analysis : 

(i) Salutation and Introduction - - i. 1-15 

(2) Universal Sinfulness - - - i. 15-iii. 20 

(3) Justification by God's Grace - - iii. 21-v. 

(4) Justification means, not Freedom to 

Sin, but Life in Christ - - - vi.-viii# 



1 90 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER S MANUAL 

(5) The Problem Presented by the Jews - ix.-xi. 

(6) Practical Duties . . . - xii.-xiii. 

(7) Mutual Tolerance . - . . xiv.-xv. 13 

(8) Conclusion and Greetings - - - xv. 14-xvi. 

The Third Group 

The next group of Epistles, viz., Colossians, Philemon, 
Ephesians, Philippians, was written after another inter- 
val of about four years, and during the imprisonment of 
the author. There is some difference of opinion as to 
whether one or more may not have been sent out during 
the captivity of St. Paul in C^sarea, but the balance of 
probability inclines in favour of all having been dis- 
patched from Rome. 

Colossians. — Colossians and Philemon are intimately 
connected, as Philemon lived in Colosse, and both letters 
were conveyed by the same messenger, Tychicus. Sev- 
eral names occur in both letters. Colosse was a small 
town in Asia Minor, and the Apostle had never visited it 
himself (Col. 2:1). He seems to have been moved to 
write them by what he was told by Epaphras, the 
founder of their Church (Col. 4 : 12). The errors which he 
seeks to correct appear to have originated in Jewish 
sources, and involved an observance of Jewish rites, 
coupled with a worship of angels. Heathen and Oriental 
speculations, such as gave rise a century later to the great 
Gnostic heresies, seem likewise to have influenced the 
Colossians. 

We can make the following analysis : 

Analysis : 

(i) Introduction - - - - - i. 1-13 

(2) The Preeminence of Christ - - - i. 14-23 

(3) Prayer, and Warning against False Phi- 

losophy - ■• - - - - I. 24-ii. 

(4) Practical Duties iii.-iv. 6 

(5) Personal Conclusion - - - - iv. 7-18 



THE NEW TESTAMENT I9I 

Philemon. — The beautiful little letter to Philemon 
shows us a gentle and an almost playful side of St. Paul's 
character. He sends back to him a runaway slave, ask- 
ing him to receive him now as a brother beloved. He 
reminds him of the obhgation he is under to himself, but 
in the most tactful and winning way. It is instructive to 
observe that the Apostle makes no direct attack upon 
slavery as an institution, but it is equally clear that he 
asserts principles which will eventually prove fatal 
to it. 

Ephesians. — Ephesians has been called the twin-epistle 
to Colossians. It, too, seems to have been sent by 
Tychicus at the same time as the letters to Philemon and 
to the Church in Colosse. By some it is supposed to 
have been a circular letter, going first, perhaps, to 
Ephesus and thence to other cities in Asia Minor. Thus 
it may be that very " Epistle from Laodicea" (Col. 4: 
16), which the Colossians were to expect. We find the 
two Epistles, to Ephesus and to Colosse, very similar in 
plan, purport, and even language — a very natural cir- 
cumstance in two letters written at the same time with 
the same general object. The striking feature in 
Ephesians is the conception of the Church as the eternal 
purpose of God. 



Ana 

(I) 


lysis : 

Salutation - - - - - 


i. I, 2 


(^) 


Doctrinal _ _ _ _ _ 

(a) God's Purpose — Prayer that 

they may realise their privi- 


i. 2-iii. 




leges _ . _ - 


i. 2-23 




(b) Their New State in Grace - 


ii. i-io 




{c) All One in Christ 


ii. 11-22 




{d) Paul's Mission to the Gentiles 


iii. 1-T3 




(e) Prayer _ . _ _ 


iii. 14-21 


(3) 


Practical _ . . - . 


iv. i-vi. 18. 




(a) Unity, with Diversity of Offices 


iv. 1-16 




Ip) Warning and Advice - 


iv. 17-v. 21 



192 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHERS MANUAL 

(r) Duties in the Family Relation v. 22-vi. 9 
(d) Exhortation - - - vi. 10-18 

(4) Personal Conclusion - - - vi. 19-24 

Philippians. — Philippi was a Roman colony in Mace- 
donia and its Church the first planted by St. Paul in 
Europe (Acts 16: 12-40). It seems to have been most 
faithful to St. Paul, and now (Phil. 2 : 25 ; 4: 18), as be- 
fore, they have sent him money. He writes thanking 
them, and encouraging them. He anticipates a speedy 
decision of his case, and, if the trial results as he hopes, 
he will see them again. 

Analysis : 

(i) Introduction - - - - - i. 1-2 

(2) Main Body - - - - - i. 3-iv. 9 

(a) Affairs at Rome - - - i. 3-26 
(^) Exhortation, and Example of 

Christ - - - - i. 27-ii. 18 
(c) Mission of Timothy and 

Epaphroditus - - - ii. 19-30 

(^) Warnings - - - - iii.-iv. i 
(<?) Personal Advice and Further 

Exhortations - - - iv. 2-9 

(3) Conclusion ----- iv. 10-23 

(a) Renewed Thanks - - - iv. 10-20 
(^) Final Salutations - - - iv. 21-23 

The Fourth Group 

The final group commonly bears the name of the 
Pastoral Epistles, which belong to the closing years of 
St. Paul's life, as is evident from their whole tone. It is 
probable that the Apostle was released from his im- 
prisonment shortly after Philippians was written, that 
he continued his missionary labours until Nero began his 
persecution in a. d. 54, when he was again arrested, 
imprisoned, and after a brief interval put to death. 



THE NEW TESTAMENT 1 93 

First Timothy and Titus. — These were probably writ- 
ten shortly before the arrest. They are at once private 
and official letters. Timothy and Titus are both spirit- 
ual children of St. Paul. The former had received a 
strict Jewish training from his mother Eunice and his 
grandmother Lois (2 St. Tim. 1:5; 3 : 14, 15). He was 
converted and also ordained by Paul (Acts 16 : 1-3 ; 
I St. Tim. 4: 14; 2 St. Tim. i : 6). Titus was a Gentile 
(Gal. 2 : 3) ; he had been the messenger to Corinth with the 
second Epistle to that city, and now was left in Crete to 
direct the affairs of the Church. The Apostle gives 
directions to his two juniors regarding their duties. It 
will help us in understanding if we remember that at this 
period the terms " bishop " and " elder " were appHed to 
the same officers. 

Second Timothy. — The second Epistle to Timothy 
was written from Rome where the Apostle was enduring 
his final captivity and was now '< ready to be offered up." 
He here gives his last pastoral charge, full of courage, 
faith and warning. 

We subjoin analyses of the three Epistles : 



Ana 


lyses : 

I ST. TIMOTHY 








(I) 


The Danger of Heresy 


. 


. 


i. 


(2) 


Common Prayer 


- 


- 


ii. 


(3) 


"Bishops " and Deacons - 


- 


. 


iii. 


(4) 


Asceticism and Heresy 


_ 


- 


iv. 


(5) 


"Elders" and "Widows " 


_ 


- 


V. 


(6) 


Warnings - 

2 ST. TIMOTHY 


~ 


~ 


vi. 


(I) 


Introduction _ _ _ 


« 


. 


i. 1-14 


(2) 


Failure of Others ; Faithfulness of One- 






siphorus _ _ _ 


_ 


_ 


i. 15-18 


(3) 


Exhortations and Warnings - 


_ 


> 


ii.-iii. 


(4) 


Final Charge _ _ _ 


- 


. 


iv. 1-8 


(5) 


Personal Notes and Final Salutations 


- 


iv. 9-22 



194 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHERS MANUAL 

TITUS 

(i) Salutation - - - - _ _ i. i-^ 

(2) The Character to be required of various 

Persons and Officers - - - i. 5-ii. 

(3) Subjection to Rulers ; God's Goodness ; 

Factiousness ----- iii. i-n 

(4) Personal notes ----- iii. 12-15 

VII. Hebrews 

Author is unknown.— In our English Bibles the Epistle 
to the Hebrews is credited to St. Paul, although it is 
placed after all the others that bear his name. The 
probabilities are, however, that this is a mistake and that 
we owe it to some other writer whose name is unknown. 
The style, which is very excellent in literary quality, 
is quite different from any writing of the great Apostle, 
and the ancient Church was by no means agreed in 
thinking it his. The contents give very little clue, al- 
though it would seem that the author must have been a 
Jew. Nor do we know to what congregation of Hebrews 
it was written. It seems evident, however, that they 
were some body of Jewish Christians, perhaps some- 
what isolated from the rest of the Church, who were un- 
der temptation to relapse into Judaism, or at least missed 
the splendid and stately worship of the Old Covenant, 
They needed to be shown the true spiritual superiority 
of the Christian Dispensation, and to be taught the 
purely preparatory nature of the ancient ceremonies. 
To do this is the effort of this treatise, which is a letter 
only in name. We may place the date of its writing 
in 65-70 A. D., after the Neronian persecution and before 
the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans. 

Analysis : 

(i) The Superiority of the Son, the 
Mediator of the New Revelation, 
to the Prophets, to the Angels, 



THE NEW TESTAMENT 1 95 

and to the human Founders of 

the Jewish System - - - i.-iv. 13 
(2) The High Priesthood of Christ, 

superior to that of Aaron's Line; 

Universal and Royal - - - iv. 14-vii. 28 
C3) Superiority of the Sacrifice and 

Sanctuary of Christ to those of 

Judaism viii. i-x. 18 

(4) Practical Application of these Truths, x. 19-xiii. 25 



VIII. The Catholic Epistles 

General letters. — It is customary to group St. James, 

1 and 2 St. Peter, I, 2 and 3 St. John and St. Jude under 
the title of the " Catholic Epistles." The name is due 
to the fact that they are not addressed to any particular 
Churches, and that, with the probable exceptions of 

2 and 3 St. John, they are " general " or circular letters. 
They formed one of the collections of sacred writings 
which preceded the one volume of the complete New 
Testament. 

St. James. — Of the first of the Catholic Epistles there 
can be little doubt that the author is James, " the Lord's 
brother." James the son of Zebedee was killed A. d. 44, 
the first of all the Apostles to suffer martyrdom. James 
the Less could hardly have been the author. But " the 
Lord's brother," who was at the head of the Church in 
Jerusalem, was a commanding figure in the primitive 
Church, and the character of the Epistle accords with 
all that men told of him, in its Jewish tone and its Palestine 
allusions. It is intensely practical in character, contains 
many echoes of the Sermon on the Mount and does not 
discuss doctrine. While we cannot fix the exact date of 
its composition, it must be one of the earliest books in 
the New Testament — possibly older than any Epistle of 
St. Paul. 

It does not lend itself to analysis as there is no argu- 



196 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER's MANUAL 

ment, or progress of thought; it is simply a series of 
warnings against sin, and exhortations to right conduct. 

First St. Peter.— The First Epistle of St. Peter is 
addressed to the Dispersion in certain districts of Asia 
Minor — that is, to the Israelites scattered in these dis- 
tricts. The question has been raised as to whether these 
were Jews, literally, or whether the term is used meta- 
phorically of Christian sojourners among the heathen. 
The author dates the letter from Babylon (5 : 13), and 
here again it is doubted whether we are to understand 
by this the literal city of that name, or the mystical 
" Babylon," Rome. 

The Epistle is practical rather than doctrinal, although 
its theology is in full accord with St. Paul. It endeavours 
to prepare its readers for the fiery trials which are soon 
to assail them. The following will be a sufficient out- 
Hne: 

Analysis : 

(i) Salutation i. 1-2 

(2) Salvation, its Joy and Fruits - - i. 3-ii. 2 

(3) Christianity the True Church, built 

on Christ as Corner-stone - - ii. 3-10 

(4) Christian Duties, after the Pattern of 

Christ ------ ii. ii-iv. 11 

(5) Counsels to Patience under Suffering 

and to Humility - - - - iv. 1 2-v. 1 1 

(6) Conclusion v. 12-14 

Second St. Peter. — The Second Epistle of St. Peter 
and the Epistle of St. Jude present such striking resem- 
blances that it is evident there is a connection between 
them. Critics, however, are disagreed as to which of the 
two was earlier, although the probability is that we must 
place 2 St. Peter later than St, Jude. This is one of 
many cases, both in the Old and New Testaments, where 
the words of one writer were used by another when they 



THE NEW TESTAMENT 197 

seemed to be the best possible for enforcing a lesson or 
conveying a message. 

Analysis : 

(i) God's Call to Several Virtues - - i. i-ii 

(2) The Gospel Attested at the Transfigura- 

tion and by Prophecy - - - i. 12-21 

(3) Denunciation of False Teachers - - ii. 

(4) The Second Advent - - - - iii. 1-13 

(5) Exhortation and Doxology - - - iii. 13-18 

The Apostle St. John.— The Apostle St. John spent 
the closing years of his Hfe at Ephesus, and we may re- 
call the stories of his tenderness to the young man who 
had become a robber, of the partridge which he made a 
pet, and of his repeating " Little children, love one an- 
other," when, in his weakness, he was carried through 
the streets on a litter. 

The First Epistle of St. John.— The First Epistle of 
St. John seems to have been intended as a circular letter 
for the Ephesians and for the neighbouring Churches in 
Asia Minor. In the beginning he deals with a heresy 
which denied the true humanity of Jesus Christ. But 
the main theme is the love of God and man, evidenced in 
practical righteousness. The date of writing is probably 
as late as a. d. 90. 

The Second Epistle of St. John. — In the Second 
Epistle of St. John, the Apostle calls himself " the Elder," 
as does St. Peter in i St. Peter 5:1. It is somewhat 
doubtful whether we have here a private letter, addressed to 
" the elect lady," or a pastoral letter to a Church, figura- 
tively described under that name. The simplicity, and 
the allusions to the children (4), and to the children of 
the elect sister (13), favour the supposition that it is a 
personal letter. On the other hand, these phrases can 
all be interpreted as metaphors, and the purport which is 
a warning against those who teach falsely concerning the 



1 98 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER'S MANUAL 

Incarnation, accords better with the view that the letter 
was addressed to a Church. 

The Third Epistle of St. John.— The Third Epistle of 
St. John is most certainly a private letter. It is ad- 
dressed to " Gaius," who is sometimes identified with one 
of several persons of that name mentioned elsewhere in 
the New Testament (Rom. 16:23; i Cor. 1:14; Acts 
19:29; 20:4), but the name was so common that no 
probability can be maintained. After words of personal 
commendation, the Apostle denounces one Diotrephes, 
who appears to have been tyrannical and insubordinate, 
and commends Demetrius. 

St. Jude. — The Jude who wrote the Epistle can hardly 
be the Apostle of that name, as he seems (vs. 17, 18) to 
distinguish himself from the Apostles and also to put 
himself in a later generation. 

In the opening verse he describes himself as " of 
James." The Authorised Version prefixes the word 
•' brother," the Revised Version, •' son." If the Author- 
ised Version is right he may have been a '• brother of the 
Lord." The Epistle is remarkable for quotations from 
two books which lie outside the canon of Holy Scrip- 
ture, the " Assumption of Moses," and the Book of 
Enoch, both much valued in the first century. The pur- 
pose of the author is to denounce the immorality encour- 
aged by certain false teaching, which seems to have been 
a perversion of St. Paul's doctrine of Justification by 
Faith. 

IX. The Revelation 

The Revelation. — The Book of the Revelation stands 
as unique in the New Testament, but it has Daniel as its 
prototype in the Old Testament. In Chapter I : 9, we 
are told that the visions recorded in it were given to 
John, in the " isle that is called Patmos, for the Word of 
God and the testimony of Jesus." Irenaeus tells us that 



THE NEW TESTAMENT 199 

this banishment was at the end of Domitian's reign, about 
A. D. 95, but some modern scholars think the book must 
be assigned to an earher date. 

Its interpretation. — Wonderfully impressive and beau- 
tiful as is the Revelation, and full of comfort and encour- 
agement as Christians have ever found it, the interpreta- 
tion has always been of the greatest difficulty, and those 
who have attempted it differ widely in their views. Per- 
haps the true conclusion to be drawn is that its real 
meaning lies in the consolation and hope which it has 
always given, and that we are not intended to see in it 
such a map of the world's history as some have looked 
for. Rather, certain great principles of God's dealings 
with the world, and of the age-long conflict between 
good and evil, are set forth in splendid imagery which is 
meant to convey an impression as a whole. The one 
controlHng thought is of the final triumph of God, when 
Christ will come to punish the wicked and reward the 
righteous. 

The book may be analysed as follows : 



Analysis : 




(i) Prologue 


i.-iii. 


(a) Title - . - . 


i- 1-3 


(^) Vision of Son of Man 


i. 4-20 


(^) Letters to the Seven 




Churches . . . 


ii.-iii. 


(2) Seven Revelations 


iv.-xxii. 5 


(a) The Book 


iv.-v. 


(^) The Seals 


vi.-vii. 


(c) The Trumpets - 


viii. 2-xi. 17 


(d) The Lamb's Redemption - 


xi. 18-XV. 4 


(0 The Vials 


XV. 5-xix. 10 


(/) The Word of God and 




Judgment 


xix. ii-xx. 15 


(g) The New Jerusalem - 


xxi.-xxii. 5 


(3) Epilogue ..... 


xxii. 6-21 



200 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHERS MANUAL 

Helpful Books 

The following books may be recommended as useful in the several de- 
partments named. Of course the list could be greatly extended, but only 
those are mentioned which are likely to be within easy reach and directly 
helpful. 

Commentaries : 

Sadler's on New Testament. 12 vols. Macmillan . . . Each ^1.50 
Cambridge Bible for Schools. Putnam. 49 vols. Sold sep- 
arately at various prices. 

Century Bible. 13 vols. (Oxford) Each .90 

Single volumes may be bought in any of these Series. 

Life of Christ : 

Geikie's. Appleton I.oo 

Edersheim's. 2 vols. Longmans 2.00 

Burton & Mathews' Constructive Studies in the Life of Christ. 

Univ. of Chicago i.oo 

Butler's How to Study the Life of Christ. Whittaker 75 

Stevens & Burton's Harmony of the Gospels. Scribner . Net i.oo 

Life and Epistles of St. Paul : 

Conybeare and Howson. Longmans 1.25 

Introduction : 

Pullan's Books of the New Testament. Macmillan . . . Net 1.25 
Smyth's How We Got Our Bible. Pott . 50 

Special Subjects : 

Trench, On Miracles and On Parables. Revell 2.00 

Thompson's The Land and the Book. 3 vols. Harper . . 7.50 



VI 

THE HISTORY OF THE CHURCH 

BY THE 

Rev. Rosea W. Jones, D. D., 

Dean of the Theological Department of Kefiyon College, 

Gambler, Ohio 



VI 

THE HISTORY OF THE CHURCH 

The Ancient Church 

Periods. — There are three — Ancient, Mediseval and 
Modern. These divisions are not arbitrary, but rest 
upon facts. 

The Ancient Period begins in a remote antiquity and 
reaches down to a time at which the old classical civilisa- 
tion ceased to be a living force. The mediseval, begin- 
ning as the older declines, has a distinct date-mark in 
the year a. d. 476 when Rome fell into the hands of the 
Teutons — the people of the north. The long stretch of 
the Middle Ages discloses the work of the Teutonic 
people on the lines of politics, literature and rehgion. 
Looked at from one point of view the whole period rep- 
resents a preparation for modern civilisation. This last 
stage begins in the latter part of the fifteenth century and 
is seen in full force in the sixteenth. 

The place — The scene of early Church history is 
mainly the shore of the Mediterranean Sea. There were, 
indeed, other localities — the far East and the far West, 
but these were not the theatres of important events. 
And even through the Middle Ages we read a story 
whose place was mainly within the district indicated. 

The Church of the Apostles. — We should appreciate 
the three stages which its history reveals. The first leads 
up to the death of Stephen and shows the Church living 
in close contact with Jewish institutions and wholly made 
up of Jewish behevers. The second stage is that of the 
founding of Gentile churches. Here appears St. Paul, 



204 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHERS MANUAL 

the Apostle to the Gentiles, whose several missionary 
journeys should be noted. The third is that of adjust- 
ment of ideas regarding the relation of the Church to 
the old law. There was a Jewish party which held that 
all who would enter the Church should become Jews to 
begin with — that for them and for those who were Jews 
by birth the law of ceremonies was binding. Another 
party insisted that for the Gentiles faith and baptism 
were enough. In the end the Church became one on 
the question of the sufficiency of faith and baptism. 

A starting-point. — With reason, one might begin the 
study of the history of the Church with the year of the 
death of St. John — about 98. Here is the end of the 
inspired period — that is, the period of special inspiration 
such as produced the books of the New Testament. 
When we take up the writings of the second century we 
at once discover a new stage in the development of the 
Church. The history of the Church of the Apostles is 
largely included in all the books which we may read on 
the text of the New Testament. 

The environment. — By this we mean the intellectual 
and moral conditions which surrounded the early Church — 
the thought and life amidst which it had to think and 
work. This environment was partly Jewish, partly 
Gentile. The first — the influence of Jewish thought — 
rapidly diminished, while the latter constantly increased. 
The former attained its extreme shape in Ebionism which 
held to the perpetuity of the Old Testament laws and 
wished to impose their obligation upon all who came into 
the Church. The sway of Gentile thought is seen in 
Gnosticism — a philosophy of religion which was prev- 
alent in the second century ; it attempted to come to 
terms with Christianity by taking it into its system. 
Ebionism and Gnosticism were heresies of a radical sort. 
Other less heretical developments can be noted. But, 
on the other hand, in giving shape to the true faith of 
the Church, Jewish and Greek thought lent their aid. 



THE HISTORY OF THE CHURCH 20$ 

Again, heathenism affected Christianity in the way of 
direct antagonism : first by treatises aiming to prove the 
falsity of Christianity, and secondly in the form of brute 
force — that is, in persecutions. 

The persecutions.— ^They began in the days of the 
Apostles and came to an end early in the fourth century. 
To enumerate them as ten is at once to make them too 
few and too many. There were more than ten, if all, 
even the least important, are reckoned — there were less 
than ten if only the really important are taken into ac- 
count. We should notice that up to the year 250 per- 
secutions were local and impulsive, but that at this date 
the Emperor Decius began a general and systematic per- 
secution, which indicated that the government had 
wakened up to the danger confronting the very ex- 
istence of Paganism. The last persecution — that of 
Diocletian, beginning in 303 — was the final fight of 
heathenism for life. The intervals of rest should be 
noted ; for instance, the " Forty Years' Peace " which 
came before 303. 

The second century. — The centre of gravity, that is 
the chief source of influence, was, at the beginning, in the 
mother Church of Jerusalem. But the Holy City was 
wrecked by the Romans and the Church there then ceased 
to be a power. Now the centre of gravity moved to 
Asia Minor, the last home of St. John. Thus quickly 
Christianity passed out of the care and keeping of the 
Jews to that of the Gentiles. The Church fathers of the 
second century are Greek-speaking men whose lives had 
been spent in the midst of heathen associations. The 
earliest piece of Christian literature of whose date we 
have reliable information is the Epistle of Clement of 
Rome to the Church at Corinth. It is a letter of admoni- 
tion and exhortation bearing upon divisions and strifes 
such as St. Paul's letters to the same Church disclose 
to us. 

Another^ and more important, work is the Epistles of 



206 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER's MANUAL 

Ignatius who was Bishop of Antioch. Their date is 
early in the second century. They are the writer's fare- 
well letters addressed to several Churches while he was 
on his journey to Rome, where he was to suffer the 
death-penalty for being a Christian. With him should 
be connected Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna in Asia Minor 
when Ignatius passed through that city on his way to 
Rome. And there is this further reason for associating 
the two names : Ignatius, so tradition says, was a dis- 
ciple of St. John, and of Polycarp the same is said. 
With the passing away of these two men, there was a 
severing of the links which had united the age of the 
Apostles to the second century. " The Teaching of the 
Twelve Apostles " is the earliest Church manual. It 
comes from the earliest years of the century and contains 
instruction in Christian living and directions regarding 
the sacraments and the ministry. " The Shepherd of 
Hermas " is the " Pilgrim's Progress " of the early 
Church; it is our oldest allegory. Irenaeus, Bishop of 
Lyons in France, wrote five books against the Gnostic 
heresies. These heresies were an attempt to combine 
heathen ideas and doctrines with those of Christianity. 
Irenaeus is the first systematic theologian in his state- 
ments of the true doctrine. 

The Apologists. — Apologies were treatises written in 
defence of Christianity and of Christians. They aimed 
to show the truth of Christianity and to defend Christians 
against the charges made by the heathen people. They 
show us how sure the Christians were of their positions 
and how strong was the courage with which they faced 
the world. We may mention Quadratus, Aristides, Justin, 
Tatian, Athenagoras, Melito and Menucius Felix. These 
names cover a period of about fifty years beginning in 
125. The greatest name is that of Justin ** the Martyr." 

A new age. — With Irenaeus a turning-point is reached. 
There begins the period of theological writers of whom 
he may be called the first. Following him come Ter- 



THE HISTORY OF THE CHURCH 207 

tullian, the first Latin father, Clement of Alexandria, the 
Christian philosopher, and Origen, who was the greatest 
theologian of the early Church. In 247 Cyprian was 
Bishop of Carthage in Africa. 

This period, from 180 to the Council of Nice in 325, 
has been named that of the Old CathoHc Church. The 
word catholic here designates a stronger and clearer 
emphasis upon cathoHcity — the idea of one Church in all 
the world with its one faith and organisation. The con- 
flict with heresies helped the Christian thinkers to an 
appreciation of this, for, as against the heresies, the 
Church must be able to present the solid front of uniform 
apostolicity in its doctrines and government. Hence 
there came a canon of the New Testament — a list of 
Scriptures genuinely Apostolic. Hence there came a 
universal Creed or summary of ApostoHc teaching and 
hence insistence upon an Apostolic Ministry — a ministry 
descending unbrokenly from the Apostles. 

A new centre of gravity. — It was Alexandria with its 
famous catechetical school and its great names of Clement 
and Origen. This city was now the seat of philosophy 
and theology. It was a new Athens. And here, very 
remarkably, philosophy became " the handmaid " of re- 
ligion. It sought to meet an antichristian Gnosis by a 
higher Gnosis whose foundations are laid in faith and 
love. Clement was at home in the vast storehouse of 
Greek literature and at his feet sat not only Christian 
students but also Greek philosophers who had come to 
hear the " Divine Philosophy " drawn from the Bible. 
Origen, who was by preeminence the theologian of the 
early Church, was the greatest mind of the ante-Nicene 
age. Beside his other important works we may note his 
" Hexapla," a critical edition of the Old Testament, giv- 
ing in six columns as many different texts in Greek and 
Hebrew — a work which cost him twenty-eight years of 
labour. 

The West. — We have mentioned TertuUian. He is 



208 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHEr's MANUAL 

the first Latin father. He was born about 1 60 in 
Carthage. The time of his activity was about 200, so 
that he follows Irenseus by about twenty years, and like 
him he wrote against the doctrinal errors which threat- 
ened the Church, but this with the more practical bent 
characteristic of the Western mind. He entered upon 
his Christian career with all the ardour of an enthusiastic 
temperament. His earliest writings have been called 
" Tracts for the Times," some of them dealing with 
every-day matters of life and conduct, and revealing to 
us much of the manners of the period. He was *♦ the 
passionate purist " whose misguided zeal led him into 
the ranks of Montanism, a strange and fanatical, though 
earnest movement, whose rise was in the later second 
century ; but TertuUian ever reckoned himself a member 
of the Catholic Church. Coming after him is Cyprian, 
Bishop of Carthage. He was by preeminence the Bishop, 
the great Churchman. His idea of the organised Catholic 
Church was the important contribution which he made 
to Christian thought. His ability as an administrator in 
times of trouble and persecution was that of a genius and 
he crowned his splendid life by a martyr's death in the 
Valerian persecution in 250. His treatise on " The 
Unity of the Church " is his most important literary 
work. 

The Church in Rome. — Hyppolytus is the one notable 
theologian of the Roman Church during the second and 
third centuries. His work against heresies is in ten 
books and many fragments of his other writings remain 
showing him to have been extensively learned. He was 
exiled in the persecution of Maximin in 235. 

The heresies. — They had to do with the doctrine of 
the Trinity and the nature of Jesus Christ. The mystery 
of three Persons and one God was a stumbling-block to 
the heathen mind. And heathen thought affected many 
minds of the day, for the mighty philosophy which 
heathen thought had created could not be forgotten. 



THE HISTORY OF THE CHURCH 209 

Hence attempts to get around the difficulty of the 
Trinity. These attempts may be described generally by 
the term Monarchianism-unitarianism. One theory 
made Christ a man endued with extraordinary inspira- 
tion ; another taught that Father, Son and Holy Ghost 
were not three persons but three modes of manifestation 
of one person. These heresies marked the third century. 
Then in the fourth century Arianism propounded the 
doctrine which set forth Christ as more than man but 
less than God. 

The Council of Nice. — The last statement above 
brings us up to the situation which obtained when the 
first General Council of the Church was held : Arius 
of Alexandria teaching the doctrine of Christ's subordi- 
nation to the Father, and the beginning of a great con- 
troversy. The Emperor Constantine called the Council ; 
for now the last of the persecutions had passed and a 
Christian sat on the throne of the Empire. Arianism 
was condemned, and the Nicene Creed was made. This 
was the first Creed set forth by the whole Church, al- 
though differing forms of the Apostles' Creed can be 
traced back to the second century and were probably in 
general use. 

The periods of the Councils. — The first four General 
Councils were the most important. They defined the 
doctrine of the Church relative to the Trinity and the 
Person of Christ. They were Nice in 325, Constanti- 
nople in 381, Ephesus in 431 and Chalcedon in 451. 
They set forth the true Divinity of Christ, His true 
Humanity and the relation of the two Natures in His 
Person. The period covered by these Councils was one 
of intense thought and discussion and controversy. 

Another controversy. — This was the Pelagian which 
takes its name from Pelagius, a British monk who at 
Rome, in about 405, set forth theories which denied 
original sin and affirmed the possibility of human per- 
fection. They were the extreme statements of an 



2IO THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHERS MANUAL 

earnest man who felt that men were apt unduly to ex- 
cuse their shortcomings by making much of human sin- 
fulness and inability. Augustine was the chief opponent 
of the Pelagians. The controversy dealt with the ques- 
tions of human nature and man's salvation. What can 
man do ? What has God done ? For more than fifty 
years the dispute continued. 

The great names. — These are many. They may be 
grouped according to locality — the localities representing 
well-marked differences of thought. In the East, and 
belonging to Antioch as a centre, are Cyril, Bishop of 
Jerusalem from 350 to 386, whose lectures to those pre- 
paring for baptism are a valuable record of the sort of 
instruction given at that time ; Diodorus, Bishop of Tar- 
sus, who wrote commentaries on many books of the Old 
Testament ; Chrysostom, who, because of his wonderful 
eloquence, was called " John of the Golden Mouth," and 
who became Bishop of Constantinople in 397 ; Theodore 
of Mopsuestia in Cilicia, who was the expert interpreter 
of Scripture and had a follower and disciple in Theodoret. 
Belonging to Alexandria is Eusebius of Cssarea, whose 
" Ecclesiastical History " is for us the most valuable of 
any single work in discovering the story of the early 
Church and who may rightly be called the Father of 
Church History ; Athanasius was eminent in theology and 
was the most conspicuous figure in the Nicene Council, 
apprehending, as did no one else, the necessity of full and 
definite statements of the true faith ; Cyril was Bishop of 
Alexandria for many years in the early half of the fifth 
century. Living in Asia Minor but belonging to the 
Alexandrian school of thought were " The Three Cappa- 
docians," Basil, Gregory Nazianzen, and Gregory of 
Nyssa, whose united lives extend from 325 to 394, and 
who were the most important Greek theologians after 
Athanasius. Turning to the West, we note Hilary of 
Poitiers, who, banished to Phrygia in 356, learned there 
to know the Greek theology better than most Latin 



THE HISTORY OF THE CHURCH 211 

thinkers of his age. Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, was the 
son of a Roman of high miUtary rank, became a lawyer 
and then governor of North Italy and, in 364, was chosen 
bishop by the voice of the people, being at that time a 
layman ; as pastor, preacher, friend of the needy and the 
opponent of heresy his fame was large. Jerome was the 
scholarly ascetic. Born in Italy and baptised in Rome, 
he went, in 373, to Syria, and almost all of his after life 
was spent in the East in monastic retirement. He was 
not at his best in theology, but his Biblical labours are 
of the highest value. He made a new translation of the 
Bible which is called the " Vulgate " — the Bible of the 
people. This has been of importance because for a 
thousand years it was the only version known to West- 
ern Christendom, and our own Authorised Version is the 
work of men to whom the Vulgate was the most familiar 
text. Augustine was the most able and influential the- 
ologian of the ancient Church. His " Confessions " give 
us the story of his life up to the time of his baptism in 
387, when he was thirty-three years old. We can 
read of the prayerful care of his mother Monica, his dis- 
solute youth, his conviction of sin, his search after truth 
and light, and his conversion under the preaching of 
Ambrose at Milan. Upon the Church of his day and the 
Church of succeeding centuries his commanding theology 
has left its impress. 

With Augustine the classical period of Christian 
thought reached its close. 

Paganism. — The Edict of Milan in 313 extended state 
toleration to Christianity. In 324 Constantine removed 
the seat of empire from Rome to Constantinople. Laws 
were passed for the encouragement of Christian manners 
and customs. The sons of Constantine continued the 
same protection to the Church. Julian, called the Apos- 
tate, became the leader of a short-lived pagan reaction 
(361-363). He attempted to restore a reformed heathen- 
ism. His career was cut short in battle and he was the 



212 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER*S MANUAL 

last Emperor who was hostile to Christianity. By one 
step after another Paganism was gradually suppressed by 
the succeeding emperors. It lingered longest in remote 
districts. Interesting as events in its period of decline 
are the murder of Hypatia, who lectured on philosophy 
in Alexandria in 415, and the closing of the school of 
philosophy in Athens in 529 by Justinian. This Em- 
peror compelled all his subjects to be baptised. 

The Christian life. — It should be viewed on its moral 
side and in wonderful contrast to heathen life and char- 
acter on every hand. It exhibited a new faith and hope 
very strangely unlike the spirit of the world. Especially 
noticeable is this in the earliest days when the Church 
was the home of a marvellous love, joy and enthusiasm 
quite unlike anything the old pagan world had known. 
Upon all relations of life and living the Church set its 
seal. This is the moral miracle of the first centuries. 
And here we mustnotetheorigin and growth of Asceticism. 
It finally developed into Monasticism. First there was 
the solitary hermit, then the community of hermits, each 
in his separate cell, and then the fully formed family, all 
members of which lived under the same roof. During 
the age of persecutions the Christian profession was in 
itself an asceticism, for it involved a peculiar self-denial ; 
and after this danger passed, there was a danger which 
arose with the coming into the Church of large numbers 
of nominal Christians — when Christianity had become the 
religion of the State and was, in a sense, the fashion. 
Thus to some ardent souls the retirement from society 
which monasticism offered was strongly inviting. 

Sacraments and services. — Their history is most in- 
teresting. From short and simple forms they grew into 
elaborate liturgies. The subject of early church build- 
ing is one on which books have been written. Still 
another is pictorial Christian art, but here again we can 
only ask the reader to refer to some of the many works 
which treat of this. 



THE HISTORY OF THE CHURCH 213 

Organisation. — Ignatius, early in the second century, 
knows of no other form of the Ministry than that of bish- 
ops, priests and deacons. Sucli a well-estabhshed order 
could not have been of recent origin, and its beginnings 
must be sought for in the Apostolic Age. But the needs 
of the Church occasioned an extension of the ranks of the 
Ministry, several of which appear in the third century. 

The Church in the Middle Ages 

Introduction. — With the fall of the city of Rome in the 
year 476, the Middle Period may be said to begin. 
For this event was indicative of the passing away of the 
older civilisation. The new was ushered in by the com- 
ing of the northern peoples. The Teutonic tribes were 
pressing hard upon the Empire, and before long their 
conquests promised to be permanent. This youthful race 
began its work in central and southern Europe upon a 
far lower stage of civilisation than that which antiquity 
had attained. And so its part was to achieve that level 
of thought and to add the influence of Christian ideas to 
the forces of the classical age. The older civilisation had 
perished in its form, but much of its force still survived. 
Greece had given hterature and art, Rome had contributed 
government and law, Christianity had set its mark upon 
the dying Empire and now the new race enters the field 
and begins its work. Thus the forces are Greece, Rome, 
Christianity and the Teutonic peoples. The result is seen 
in the thought and hfe of the Modern Period. 

The Church in the East. — From now on the history 
of the East and that of the West follow divergent lines. 
And first we must notice the course of theological con- 
troversy. After the Council of Chalcedon there came the 
Monophysite Controversy relative to the two Natures in 
Christ, which led to the calling of the fifth General Coun- 
cil — that of Constantinople in 553. In the seventh cen- 
tury there occurred the Monothelite Controversy on the 



214 ^'HE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHERS MANUAL 

question of one will in Christ. Following this and be- 
cause of it came the sixth General Council at Constanti- 
nople in 680. These controversies involved more or 
less of conflict between Rome and Constantinople and 
thus began the breach between the East and the West. 
Another storm of opinions rose in the East in the Icono- 
clastic Controversy in the eighth century. It was about 
images or pictures of Christ, the Virgin and the saints in 
churches, to which some kind of worship was accorded. 
Mohammedanism took its start early in the seventh 
century ; by the beginning of the eighth it had con- 
quered a considerable part of the old Roman Empire 
and large realms beyond it. The charge of idolatry 
was brought against the Christians by the followers of 
Mohammed. And on other grounds also it seemed to 
the Emperor, Leo the Isaurian (717-741), that the tend- 
ency to image-worship was a danger to the Church. In 
787, after much bitter warfare, the General Council of 
Nicea condemned the Iconoclasts — the image-breakers. 
John of Damascus, who died about 760, set forth the 
beliefs of the image-worshipping party in a systematic 
theological work which was the last important product of 
the Greek Church. 

The Papacy. — With the decay of the Empire in the 
fifth century came the rise of the Papacy. The earliest 
Christian literature tells us Httle or nothing about the 
Bishop of Rome — the papal theory finds no standing 
ground in the second century. But in the fifth century 
there comes to light a well-defined theory of the papacy — 
the theory that the Church is an absolute monarchy with 
the Pope at its head. Pope Leo I (440-461) has been 
regarded as the real founder of the papal monarchy 
although before him the popes had asserted claims of 
primacy. In 590 came Gregory I, one of the greatest 
of all the popes by whom the influence was signally 
deepened. One after another the barbarian invasions 
had fallen upon southern Europe. In the days of Greg- 



THE HISTORY OF THE CHURCH 215 

ory the Lombards had settled in upper Italy. They 
became such a danger that in 753 Pope Stephen II 
turned to the Prankish King Pepin for help. The Lom- 
bards were Arians — remnants of the missionary work of 
the Arians in the East, but the Franks were orthodox 
churchmen. It was a turning-point in the history of 
the papacy, for now was alHance with the Eastern Em- 
pire, whose seat was Constantinople, definitely broken. 
It is henceforth the story of the papacy in its relations 
to Teutonic powers which we have to write. When 
Pope Leo III, in the year 800, crowned Charles the 
Great as Emperor of Rome, the alhance of the Western 
Church and State was completed. The relations of the 
two were strong and promised prosperity for both. But 
very soon the new Empire was divided among the de- 
scendants of Charles and the promise failed. Then came 
the dark tenth century when the condition of things, 
religious and pohtical, was at the worst. 

A revival. — The three German Othos mark a forceful 
attempt to revive the Empire. The first of these kings, 
Otho I, was crowned in 962. They did much to es- 
tablish civil and religious order. But successful reform 
came with Henry III of the Franconian Hne of German 
emperors. A series of able German popes worked for 
the betterment of the Church. From now until the end 
of the thirteenth century the Church was a steadily grow- 
ing power. 

The conflict. — But the growing power of the Church 
suggested the hope of escape from the control of the 
State. Later the aim to dominate the State became the 
thought of the popes. As has been pointedly said, this 
conflict was a drama in three acts. The first act ended 
with the Concordat of Worms in 11 22, when adjustment 
of the relations of Church and State was effected. The 
greatest of the popes now was Gregory VII, 107 3- 108 5, 
who successfully humbled the Emperor Henry IV. The 
next act ended with the Peace of Constance in 1 183 by 



2l6 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER's MANUAL 

which the Emperor lost certain of his regal privileges in 
Italy. The third act ended in 1250 in the death of the 
last of the great emperors, Frederic II. The papacy 
won. The thirteenth century is the central period in 
mediaeval history ; here the Church attained its largest 
power, and the civilisation of the Middle Ages reached 
its height. 

Decline. — The fourteenth century is that of papal de- 
cline. Victorious in its contest with Germany the papacy 
was now confronted by the rising power of France, and 
here the State won the day. For seventy years the 
popes were exiles in the city of Avignon on the borders 
of France. Then for forty years there was a papal schism 
— a line of popes at Avignon, another at Rome. And 
the history of this decline carries us up to the fifteenth 
century, which is the century of Councils whose objects 
were to heal the schism and reform the Church. But 
the Church remained unreformed, although the schism 
was brought to an end, and there came a line of stronger 
popes, continuing into the sixteenth century, who made 
some show of reform. The great Council of Trent which 
opened in 1545 did not effect any deep reformation of 
the Church. 

Monasticism It was one of the most significant fea- 
tures of mediaeval life. It originated, as we have seen, in 
the East. It made its way into the West and there was 
given form and organisation by Benedict of Nursia who 
died in 543. Another great monastic movement began 
in the tenth century and came into vast power in the 
eleventh — the order of Clugny. This was followed by 
several others, some of which became famous. In the 
thirteenth century another important development can 
be noted — the Mendicants in the orders of St. Francis 
and St. Dominic. The last momentous development was 
that of the Jesuits in 1540 whose primary purpose was 
to oppose the spread of the Reformation. Monasticism 
became the servant of the Church and also her master. 



THE HISTORY OF THE CHURCH 21/ 

for the learning, missionary zeal and benevolent work 
of the Church were largely monastic. Monastic influence 
controlled the policy of the Church. And looking back 
at the four great landmarks in monastic history which we 
have indicated we can be sure that they coincide with 
four important landmarks in the history of the Church in 
the West. It was monasticism which, at such times, 
supported and advanced the Church. 

Scholasticism. — The intellectual activities of the Middle 
Ages bear this name. Its purpose was the exploration of 
all fields of knowledge though its chief subject was rehg- 
ious truth. Its definition is in its motto — '♦ Faith seek- 
ing Knowledge." Its aim was to explain and defend the 
doctrines of the Church with the help of philosophy. Its 
leaders were almost all men of Teutonic blood and thus 
Scholasticism represents a portion of the contribution 
which the mind of the North made to the life of mediaeval 
Europe. It produced a number of great books, some of 
which are not now forgotten, although its methods long 
ago gave place to those of modern thought. 

The Crusades. — The alarmingly extensive conquests 
of the Mohammedans were the cause of the most impos- 
ing mihtary undertakings which the Middle Ages knew. 
In particular, the fact that the Holy Land and City were 
in the hands of the infidel aroused a marvellous enthusiasm 
for the safety of the Church and the recovery of her lost 
possessions. Beginning in 1096 there were seven Cru- 
sades, and the last was in 1270. They cost Europe be- 
tween five and six milhons of men. In the end the Holy 
Land was not regained to Christendom. But the indirect 
effects upon European civilisation were of large import. 

Missionary work. — Among the northern tribes which 
had descended upon the Empire the Church accomplished 
a work of evangelisation, the story of which, fully told, 
would fill many volumes. We will for two reasons con- 
fine ourselves to an outline of the history of Christianit)^ 
in Britain. This history can easily be told, and it has to 



2l8 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER's MANUAL 

do with our own mother Church of England. That the 
Church there was founded by an Apostle is " unproved 
and improbable." There is ground for the belief that 
there were Christians in Britain before the year 200. We 
know that there was a British Church soon after 300, and 
it is likely that this then organised Church was not of 
recent origin. Let us bear in mind that England was at 
this time not yet born. The island of Britain was oc- 
cupied by the British — the Celts. It appears that, as we 
should expect, the British Church had its origin in the 
not far-off Church of Gaul. With more or less of poetry 
and legend the earliest annals present the names of saints 
— Alban, Ninian, Germanus, Lupus and Patrick. In the 
middle of the fifth century came the Saxon invasion ; 
Britain was overrun by the tribes from northern Germany 
so that the Celts held their ground only in Ireland, Scot- 
land and western England. Up to a line not far from the 
borders of Wales the invaders made a clean sweep of 
what is now called England ; for the Saxons were a 
heathen people and the Church was destroyed by their 
conquests, so that the situation was this : In Ireland the 
Celtic Church was unhurt ; planted there by Palladius and 
Patrick at about 430, it had produced scholars and mis- 
sionaries. At a date somewhat uncertain, though proba- 
bly not remote from that last named, St. Ninian, the son 
of a British chief, went as a missionary to the people of 
southern Scotland called the Picts. Later, St. Columba 
went from Ireland to undertake another like work in 
Scotland and established his mission in the island of lona. 
Thus, after the Saxon invasion, there were the Churches 
of western Britain, of Ireland and of Scotland. 

The mission from Rome. — This was in the year 597. 
Augustine was sent by Pope Gregory, the Great, as mis- 
sionary to the Saxons in southeastern Britain. Augus- 
tine had with him about forty monks. Landing in Kent, 
they met the King, Ethelbert, whose wife was daughter 
of the Christian King of Paris, and who followed still the 



THE HISTORY OF THE CHURCH 219 

religion in which she was born. Soon the Saxon King 
was converted and a strong Church was centred at Can- 
terbury. As Bishop of the EngHsh, Augustine sought 
to make terms with the Celtic Bishops of Wales, but to 
no purpose. Sees were established at London and 
Rochester, which for some years met with varying for- 
tunes, and in 627 Edwin, King of Northumbria, in north- 
ern England, who had married Ethelburga, daughter of 
Ethelbert of Kent, accepted the Gospel at the hands of 
Paulinus, the Queen's Chaplain. Thus, in the south and 
in the north substantial beginnings were made. 

Northumbria. — In 6^^ the heathen armies of Penda 
and those of the Christian Welsh King Cadwallon de- 
feated Edwin and ravaged Northumbria for more than a 
year. Paulinus fled and the mission was extinguished. 
But Oswald, who had been educated in the monastery 
of lona, repelled the invaders and became king. He 
naturally turned to the leaders of the Irish mission at lona 
and thence came Aidan to be Bishop of the Northum- 
brians. In 655 the heathen danger ended and the Church 
in the north and elsewhere was victorious. 

The two systems. — They were the Celtic in the north 
and the Roman in the south. The differences between 
the two were not such as we should think sufficient 
ground for lack of unity ; yet, as to the time of celebrating 
Easter, the forms in Baptism and other matters of out- 
ward or liturgical import there was much antagonism. 
In Kent and Wessex Roman traditions prevailed; in 
Northumbria, Mercia and among the East Saxons, the 
Celtic Church had left its impress. But at the Synod of 
Whitby in 664 the two systems were adjusted and the 
Roman prevailed. 

Organisation. — The first Archbishop of all England 
was Theodore, sent by the Pope in 6SS. Under him the 
Church became a united and an organised whole. He in- 
creased the number of dioceses, and thus increased the 
efficiency of episcopal administration. He established 



220 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHERS MANUAL 

provincial councils. He enforced law and discipline. 
And there came with this the growth of education in 
cathedral and monastic schools. 

The great historian. — This was Bede who wrote the 
" Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation." Most of 
the history we have just been recalling we get from him. 
He died in 734. From now until the Norman Conquest 
is a period of more than three centuries. After the death 
of Bede there came a time of spiritual decay. The high 
ideals of the Gospel were not realised in life and work. 
Then there followed the Danish invasion, and the land 
was once more shaken by war. Here the greatest names 
are those of Alfred and Dunstan — the former the roman- 
tic king who saved the nation ; the latter the heroic re- 
former of the Church. 

The Normans. — Notice three memorable conquests — 
the Saxon, the Danish and the Norman. All these were 
by people from northern Europe. The Normans had, 
indeed, lived in France where a century and a half before 
they had acquired a home, had adopted Christianity and 
whence, in 1066, they invaded England. Fraught with 
important consequences were the separation of the civil 
and ecclesiastical courts, and the drawing the Church 
nearer to Rome. 

Conflict of Church and State. — This began very soon, 
and was the result of the claims made by the Pope as 
head of the Church. It is seen first in the contest of 
William H and Anselm, the Archbishop. Harmony was 
restored for the moment under Henry I. But the con- 
flict was renewed on the question of investiture ; /. e., 
should the appointment of bishops be by the King or the 
Pope? This matter was adjusted on the plan of the Con- 
cordat of Worms, of which we shall speak later. W^ith 
Henry II came a struggle as to the relations of the Courts 
of the Church and State. The Constitutions of Clarendon 
were designed to establish uniform justice, but the party 
of the Church feared a loss of clerical rights. Victory 



THE HISTORY OF THE CHURCH 221 

seemed to be on the side of the Church, but the 
principles laid down by the State have prevailed. 
Here should be read the dramatic story of Thomas 
Becket. 

Church, State and Papacy. — For more than a century 
— ending at the close of the thirteenth — there was a 
struggle on the part of the baronage, the people and the 
Church of England against the tyranny of the King and 
the Pope. The Great Charter was made in 1215 to se- 
cure the Hberties of all classes. The long reign of 
Henry HI is marked by efforts of the baronage and the 
people to withstand the arbitrary rule of the King and the 
Pope. There came into being a constitutional govern- 
ment of clergy, nobihty and commons. The papal theory 
made the Pope supreme in temporal matters as well as in 
ecclesiastical, and since the days of Gregory VII the 
popes had been dreaming of world-wide ecclesiastical 
empire with the Pope as head over all. In England, as 
elsewhere, papal taxation was heavy, and the Pope claimed 
the right to appoint to benefices, thus to make place for 
his trusted servants. However, the papal theory never 
worked with perfect success, though it died only after a 
long and severe struggle. In England the history of this 
is most interesting. 

Decline. — The fourteenth century saw the decline of 
the mediaeval Church. The Papal Exile and the Schism 
inflicted a hurt upon the papacy from which it has never 
fully recovered. In England and elsewhere attacks upon 
the papal theory and practice were numerous. Also there 
came questionings of some of the doctrines of the Church. 
Wycliffe arose and proclaimed the most distinct denials 
of Roman principles which the nation had heard. He 
translated the Bible into English, he sent forth preachers 
to the people, he denounced the corruptions of the 
Church. Not always with wisdom did he speak, yet 
he was a real reformer whose work has never been for- 
gotten. 



222 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHERS MANUAL 

The Modern Church 

Beginnings of the Reformation. — The time had come 
in which men's opinions were taking shape. The Revival 
of Learning in the later fifteenth and earlier sixteenth 
centuries had brought to light a new intellectual as well 
as material world. In 15 17 Luther raised his voice and 
its echoes were listened to in England. Earnest men 
had become convinced that the Christianity of the 
Roman Church had in some particulars departed from 
the Church of the Apostles. They had come to believe 
in the right of an open Bible. Upon these two convic- 
tions the Reformation was built. And now had come 
the time when conviction ripened into action. 

Under Henry VIII. — Many men in England had be- 
come persuaded of three things : first, that the papal 
headship was wrong ; secondly, that the Church and 
clergy needed practical reform ; and thirdly that some 
kind of doctrinal reformation was needed to bring the 
Church back to primitive truth. Under Henry VIII the 
first two thoughts took shape and form — the Pope was 
repudiated and the moral reform ofthe Church was begun. 
Doctrinal change was also begun, but not until the next 
reign does this movement achieve any large results. 

Edward VI. — The monuments of this short reign are 
the two Prayer Books — that of 1549 and that of 1552 — 
with the Articles of Religion. The reforming movement 
was rapid in its advances and there was some danger of 
radical change. But of two facts we must make note — 
the ancient and apostolic Ministry of the Church was 
preserved in unbroken integrity and the old Services were 
kept alive in their spirit and largely in their form. Under 
Mary came the Roman reaction which gave the reformers 
time to think. 

Under Elizabeth. — The adjustment now made in doc- 
trine and worship has been called the " Elizabethan 
Settlement," for the Prayer Book now set forth and the 
Articles as now amended have remained substantially 



THE HISTORY OF THE CHURCH 22^ 

unchanged. In this reign came the contest with the 
Puritans — those who felt that the Reformation had not 
gone far enough ; but the Church was firm and was not 
compromised. 

The seventeenth century. — This was the period of the 
Stuart Kings, whose ideas of the divine right of kings 
clashed, to the extent of a civil war, with the convictions 
of a powerful party among the people. This party was 
largely the descendant of the older Puritanism and al- 
though some of its members were moderate men, yet, 
goaded by royal tyranny, they drifted with the tide, and 
Church and Royalty were for a time suspended. The 
King came to his own in the person of Charles II and in 
1662 there was another revision of the Prayer Book, 
remarkable mainly for the concessions which it refused 
to make to the Puritans. Here began dissent in England. 

The era of discussion. — The sixteenth century was that 
of the Reformation, involving the break with Rome. The 
seventeenth was that of controversy as to the limits of 
change. This is the period of discussion of the funda- 
mentals of religion. There were the Deistical and the 
Arian controversies. The most famous book of the time 
is Butler's " Analogy." Out of this controversy there came 
deepened and clearer ideas of the nature of Christianity. 

The Evangelical movement. — But the seventeenth 
century was not all controversy, nor was the eighteenth. 
In the latter part of the former, toleration was granted 
to Dissent — it was given permission to live in England. 
And in 1726 John and Charles Wesley formed in Oxford 
a society whose objects were prayer and study and holy 
living. This society grew into a movement of vast pro- 
portions whose spirit and work affected all England. 
With steadfast intention of keeping within the Church, 
it nevertheless in the end, went out and became the great 
Methodist body in England and America. But as a 
result there arose the Evangelical party within the Church 
whose influence was ascendant for many years. 



224 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER S MANUAL 

America. — The history of the Church here Hes in three 
divisions. The first is that of the English Church in the 
Colonies ; the second begins with the close of the war of 
the Revolution and includes the establishment of an 
American Episcopate, the organisation of the Church 
and the adoption of a revised Prayer Book ; the third is 
the stage of development reaching up to the present. 
The second is the most eventful. After the Revolution 
the tie with the mother Church was broken. There 
were no bishops in the new United States. Doctor Sam- 
uel Seabury was sent from Connecticut to the old country 
to be consecrated a bishop. This consecration was ob- 
tained in Scotland. Then Doctor White of Pennsylvania 
and Doctor Provoost of New York were sent to England 
and were there made bishops. The constitution of the 
Church was framed and the Prayer Book was revised in 
order to adapt it to the conditions of the time and place. 

The present Leading up to the present — a part of it 

indeed — are the great religious movements of the nine- 
teenth century. In its early years, notwithstanding the 
intense piety and missionary zeal of the EvangeHcal 
party, the Church had lost something of efficiency and 
power. Out of this state of things emerged in England 
two most potent ideas of revival. One was the ideal of 
a united Church and Nation in which the civil and rehg- 
ious should work together for the practical upholding of 
virtue. The other was the ideal of a Church reinvested 
with divine authority — a Church which should set forth 
by its doctrines, sacraments and ministry the reality of 
religion. The leading exponent of the first was Thomas 
Arnold of Rugby ; of the other the early leader was 
John Henry Newman. There has been an immense re- 
newal of activities. Benevolent institutions have been 
wonderfully multipHed. Missionary interest and achieve- 
ment have advanced. The intellectual energies of the 
Church have been reawakened and her influence ex- 
tended. In our own country the Church has moved with 



THE HISTORY OF THE CHURCH 225 

the march of empire and has become a force in our 
religious and national life. The history of our domestic 
missions is a splendid story of faith and devotion. 



For Further Reading 

The Ancient Church : 

The Church of the Early Fathers. Plummer. Longmans . . $ .80 

The Church and the Roman Empire. Arthur Carr. Longmans. .80 
A History of the Christian Church in the First Six Centuries. 

Cheetham. Macmillan Net 3.00 

The Church of the Fathers. Pullan. Macmillan .... " 1.50 

The Middle Ages : 

The Church and the Barbarians. W. H. Hutton. Macmillan. 

Net 1. 00 
Hildebrand and his Times. W. R. W. Stephens. Longmans. .80 
A History of the Christian Church. The Middle Ages. Hard- 
wick, Macmillan Net 2.25 

History of the Middle Ages. Duruy. Holt " 1.60 

The Church of England : 

Introduction to the History of the Church of England. H. O. 

Wakeman. Macmillan Net 2.00 

Ecclesia Anglicana. A. C. Jennings. Whittaker 2.25 

A History of the Church of England. G. G. Perry. Harper. 2.50 
A Popular History of the Church of England. Carpenter. 

Button 2.50 

The American Church : 

History of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United 

States. Tiffany. Scribner's Net 2.00 

History of the American Episcopal Church. McConnell. 

Whittaker 2.00 

A History of the American Church. Coleman. Oxford Church 

Text-Books. Gorham Net .35 



VII 

A BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO THE HISTORY 

AND CONTENTS OF THE BOOK OF 

COMMON PRAYER 

BY THE 

Rev. Lucien Moore Robinson, S. T. D., 

Professor of Liturgies in the Divinity School of the Protestant 

Episcopal Churchy in Philadelphia 



VII 

A BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO THE HISTORY 

AND CONTENTS OF THE BOOK OF 

COMMON PRAYER 

Part I, Its History 

A gradual growth. — Our Prayer Book is not the prod- 
uct of a single age or nation, but is a growth from the 
Apostles' time to our own. Some of the most important 
parts of it are found in the New Testament, and others 
were added at the very end of the nineteenth century. 
Yet so gradual has been this growth, that there is no lack 
of unity in the book. It has been compared to one of 
the great English cathedrals whose foundations were laid 
in the Norman style, while the superstructure shows the 
Early English, the Perpendicular and the Decorated, 
added at different dates, yet all united in harmony. 

Worship an essential part of religion. — To under- 
stand the Prayer Book, and rightly to appreciate it, one 
must study its history and development. Worship is an 
essential part of all religion. W. Robertson Smith says, 
" In the study of ancient religion, we must begin with 
ritual and traditional use." This is true of the religion 
of the Hebrews which finds its highest and most perfect 
representation in the liturgical worship of temple and syna- 
gogue. The early Christians in Jerusalem were familiar 
by precept and practice with this kind of worship, and 
we find our Lord giving to His disciples a prayer, insti- 
tuting a sacrament at His last supper, and authorising 
baptism in His great commission. 

The first form of Christian worship. — The adminis- 
tration of these sacraments was in accordance with a fixed 



230 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHERS MANUAL 

form of words. With the founding of the Christian 
Church at that first Pentecost, there was closely con- 
nected Christian worship. In the very next verse, after 
it is recorded that, as a result of St. Peter's preaching, 
there were baptised and added to the Church about 
three thousand souls, St. Luke says, " And they con- 
tinued steadfastly in the Apostles' teaching and fel- 
lowship and in the breaking of the bread and the 
prayers." Here we see in the '■^ fellow ship I' the begin- 
ning of Church organisation ; in ** the breaking of the 
breadl' the Holy Eucharist ; and in " the prayers," the 
beginning of a liturgy. 

There are many other references in the New Testa- 
ment to prayers, hymns, psalms, creeds ; to the laying on 
of hands as in Confirmation and Ordination ; to ^^ meet- 
ing on the Lord's Day or the first day of the week. 
These and similar references are mere casual notices, as 
there was no occasion for a description of the details of 
Christian worship ; but enough is recorded to make it 
clear that the worship was in some measure liturgical, 
with certain forms and prayers. We can see the begin- 
ning of two kinds of service ; the one for prayer and 
praise and the other for the celebration of the Lord's 
Supper. Some writers connect the former with the wor- 
ship of the synagogue and the latter with that of the 
Temple, but we know too little of the details of the Jewish 
worship to make such a reference of any great value. 

In the second century. — In the second century we find 
quite full accounts of the meetings for worship in the 
" Apology " of Justin Martyr (probably written 148 a. d.) 
and at the end of the same century TertuUian gives us 
many details of the ritual. 

In the third and fourth centuries. — In the third and 
fourth centuries the references become even more nu- 
merous, and about the time of the Great Council of Nicea, 
we begin to hear of written liturgies, and a little later we 
have the so-called Clementine Liturgy in full, giving an 



THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 23I 

elaborate service for the Holy Communion. The forms 
of service in the East soon became fixed in a few Greek 
liturgies like those of St. Basil, St. Chrysostom and St. 
Mark, and have changed comparatively little from that 
time to this. 

These Greek liturgies have been classified into four 
groups, named from the countries in which they were 
used, the Persian, the Syrian, the Byzantine (or Con- 
stantinopoHtan) and the Egyptian. 

In Rome. — In Rome the services of the early Chris- 
tians were probably first in Greek, and this has left its 
mark on the later Latin and English services as may be 
seen in the words Litany, Kyrie and Eucharist, which 
are Greek words. The earliest forms of Latin services 
that have come down to us bear the names of Leo the 
Great, Gelasius and Gj^egory the Great, — bishops of 
Rome in the fifth and sixth centuries, — and are called 
Sacramentaries, or services for the great Sacrament of 
the Lord's Supper. 

But the services were not just alike in all parts of 
the West ; they were different in Milan, where St. Am- 
brose had been bishop, from what they were in Spain, 
where the Christian worship was only tolerated under the 
Arab rule ; and in Gaul, the present France, there were 
still different customs, while among the Christians in 
Britain, separated from the rest of the Church, many old 
customs which had been abandoned on the Continent 
were retained. 

When St. Augustine came to England.— When St. 
Augustine came to England (597) he was bidden by 
Gregory the Great to choose from these various customs 
those best adapted to the English people ; but he con- 
fined himself mainly to those with which he was familiar 
in Gaul and Rome. 

At the time of the Norman Conquest. — At the time 
of the Norman Conquest, new uses and customs were in- 
troduced from the Continent, and many of the English 



232 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER's MANUAL 

dioceses developed some peculiarity of use. The most 
famous was that of Old Salisbury (Latin Saruni), said to 
have been arranged by St. Osmund, the first Norman 
Bishop, and nephew of William the Conqueror. 

Two types of service. — From the very earliest time, 
there were two distinct types of service ; the daily service 
of praise and prayer, and the great eucharistic service. 
Under the influence of monasticism, in the fourth and 
fifth centuries, the daily service took the form of what is 
called the (seven) canonical hours, — matins (lauds), 
prime, tierce, sext, nofte, vesper and compline, with a very 
complicated arrangement of psalms, anthems, versicles, 
responses, lessons, hymns, etc. These numerous services 
each day could not be attended by the common people, 
and, even in the monasteries, they were often shortened 
and combined. Those of the morning, viz., matins, 
lauds and prime, were said without break and made a 
morning service with much repetition. The two services 
of vesper and compline were also combined often in prac- 
tice, making an evening service. 

Added services. — In the late Middle Ages, services in 
honour of the Virgin Mary and many other saints were 
added to the hour services, making further complications, 
until it was often very difficult for the priest to find out 
just what was the service which he ought to say for any 
particular day. 

At the Reformation. — At the Reformation various at- 
tempts were made both on the Continent and in England 
to simplify these intricate hour services, and restore to 
the people some part in pubhc worship. The common- 
people who did not understand Latin, in which language 
all these services were used, had, long before the Refor- 
mation, for their private instruction English Primers covv- 
taining some of the more important parts of the " hours'' 
such as the Lord's Prayer, Creed, Te Deum, Penitential 
Psalms, etc., and these were preparing the way for the 
English Prayer Book. 



THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 233 

In England. — In England the lead in the reformation 
of the services was taken by Archbishop Cranmer, a man 
well fitted by education and literary taste to undertake 
the important task of rendering the old Latin service into 
English, and arranging it in a popular and simple form. 
Manuscripts of Cranmer recently discovered show with 
what great care he had prepared for the change. He made 
use mainly of the old Latin service books which were of 
four kinds, viz., — the Breviary, containing the daily serv- 
ices ; the Missal, containing the Communion Service ; the 
Manual, containing the occasional offices ; and the Pontif- 
ical, containing the ordination and confirmation serv- 
ices, and other services in which a bishop must take 
part. 

From the hour offices of the Breviary were compiled 
Morning and Evening Prayer, and from the Missal was 
formed the service of the Holy Com.munion ; while the 
Manual and Pontifical furnished the basis for the other 
services. The greatest change was in the use of the 
English language instead of the Latin, and by this change 
the whole service was now made intelligible to the com- 
mon people and they were encouraged to take their part 
in the public worship of the Church. 

The Litany. — The Litany was the first service of our 
Prayer Book to be translated for public use. It was pub- 
lished in 1544, and with very sUght changes has remained 
in the shape given it by Cranmer at that time. The 
principal change from the Latin Litany was in the omis- 
sion of the very long list of saints' names after each of 
which, in the old service, the people responded, "6>r«/;'^ 
nobis " (" Pray for us "). One petition was added which 
shows the feeling in England regarding the Pope : " From 
the Bishop of Rome and all his detestable enormities, 
Good Lord, deliver us." 

The Litany was the great service used in processions, 
and this was the principal cause of its peculiar form ; — 
single clauses intoned by the leader, each followed by a 



234 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHERS MANUAL 

short response sung by the choir and people. In the 
EngUsh Litany, a number of these clauses were combined 
while the responses remained nearly as before. 

Change in the Mass or Communion Service. — Four 
years later, in 1548, a change was made in the Mass or 
Communion Service. In the Latin service at that time, 
only the celebrant received the consecrated wine, but 
thereafter, all were to receive it, and an EngHsh form for 
this purpose was added to the Latin. This was called 
The Orde}^ of Communion^ and added to the Latin mass. 
In this we find for the first time our Confession, Absolu- 
tion, Comfortable Words, Prayer of Humble Access, etc. 

The first English Prayer Book.— After the death of 
Henry VIII, the revision of the Church services went on 
more rapidly. A committee took up the whole question, 
and under the guidance of Cranmer, prepared a single 
book in English containing nearly all the services 
formerly found in the numerous Latin books. Finished 
in 1548, this first English Prayer Book received the 
sanction of the authorities in 1549, and the Feast of 
Pentecost was chosen as the time at which it should be- 
come the use of the whole nation. It is known as the 
First Prayer Book of Edward VI, and its introduction 
marks a most important step in the history of the English 
Church and people. 

This book is worthy of careful study, for in it we find 
nearly all the features of our present Prayer Book, the 
subsequent changes having been mainly in matters of 
minor importance and in the rearrangement of parts. 
This book stands as a monument, not only of the 
worship of the English people, but also of their language. 
The English Prayer Book of 1549 and the Enghsh Bible 
of about the same date have done more to fix the standard 
of EngHsh diction than any other books. 

Tables. — The following tables will show the relation of 
the daily services of the Enghsh Prayer Book to the old 
hour services. 



THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

Table I 



235 



ANCIENT ENGLISH OFFICES. 



MATINS. 



LAUDS. 



,esson of" ^ 
) Lessons . [■ 
N.T.,Hom.J 



Responsories . . '( 
(S., Te Deum) . ; 



" O God, make 

" Glory be " . 

" Allelma," or, 

" Praise be " 



In the Name" , | Vers. and Resp. 



(Priv.) 
"Our Father" . 
'< O Lord, open ' 
"O God, make' 
'< Glory be " . . 
" Alleluia," or, . 

«< Praise be " . 
Invitatory . . . 
Response . . . 
Ps. Venite . . . 
Hymn 

12 Pss., 6 Ant. 
(S.,i8Pss.,9Ant.) 
9 Glory's . 
Benedictions 
" A Lesson of 



3 or 9 
O.T.,> 



5 Pss. and Ant. 
(S., Jubilate) 
4 Glory's . . . 



Canticle 

(S., Benedicite) 
Short Chapter 
Hymn 

Benedictus . . . 
[See above] . . 



Petitions .... 

Comm. Collect . 
Collect for Peace 



PRIME. 



" In the Name " 

[See below] 
» Our Father " . 



PRESENT OFFICE. 



MORNING PRAYER. 



" O God, make 
"Glory be" . 
" Alleluia," or, 
" Praise be " 



Sentences 
Exhortation 
Confess., Absol. 
" Our Father " 
'* O Lord, open " 
" O God, make " 
" Glory be " 

'" Praise ye " 
"The Lord's Name 



Hymn 

3 Pss,, I Ant. 
(S., 9 Pss., I Ant.) 
I Glory .... 



Athan. Creed 
Short Chapter 



[See above] . 
[Ap. Creed] . 
["The Lord be' 
Short Litany . 
"Our Father" 
Petitions . . 
Confess., Absol, 



Coll. for Grace 
Intercessions 

j Benediction: "I 



'The grace' 



jPs. Venite 
i 

iThe Psalms 
I (in course) 
Glory's 

{"Here beginneth" 
First Lesson 
O. T. 

Te Deum 
or 

■Benedicite 

Second Lesson, N. T. 

[Anthem] 

j Benedictus 

i Jubilate 

'Athan, Creed or 
, lAp. Creed 
'] "The Lord be" 
. Short Litany 
. ," Our Father " 

Petitions 

I 

First Collect 
Coll. for Peace 
Coll. for Grace 
Intercessions 
Thanksgiving 
i j Benediction : 
• i 1 " The Grace " 



236 



THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHERS MANUAL 

Table II 



ANCIENT ENGLISH OFFICES. 


PRESENT OFFICE. 


VESPERS. 


COMPLINE. 


EVENING PRAYER. 


« In the Name "... 


" In the Name "... 


Sentences 




" Turn Thou us " 


Exhortation 


(Priv.) 


[See below] 


Confess., Absol. 


« Our Father " . . . . 


"Our Father" .... 


« Our Father " 
" Lord, open " 


" God, make "... 


" God, make "... 


" God, make " 


5 Pss. and Ant 


4 Pss. and Ant 


The Psalms 


5 Glory's 


3 Glory's 


Glory's 


Short Chapter .... 




First Lesson 


Hymn 




Ps. xcviii., or 


Magnificat 




Magnificat 
Second Lesson 




Short Chapter .... 




Hymn 


Ps. Ixvii., or 




Nunc dimittis .... 


Nunc dimittis 




[Ap. Creed] 


Ap. Creed 


Short Litany 


Short Litany 


Short Litany 


« Our Father " . . . . 


" Our Father " . . . . 


"Our Father" 


Petitions 


Petitions 

Confess. Absol. 


Petitions 


Comm. Coll 




First Collect 


Coll. for Peace .... 




Coll. for Peace 




Coll. for Aid 


Coll. for Aid 




Intercessions 


Intercessions 
Thanksgiving 




Benediction 


Benediction 



Note. — In these tables the dotted lines will show from which of the old Offices 
the parts of our own are derived. Any features transposed for the sake of comparison 
are included in brackets. S. signifies Sunday. 



The compilers give the reasons for their work in the 
preface. These are mainly to provide for the reading of 
the whole Bible in the service, to simplify and purify the 
old services, to make one uniform use for the whole 
nation and to render it into a language understood of the 
people. 

One portion of the Church, the Ultra-Conservative, 
desired to retain as much as possible of the old services 
and customs, and in using the book continued the old 



THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 23/ 

ceremonies and vestments. Another party, the Ultra- 
Reformers, were not satisfied with the book and wished 
to aboHsh the use of most of the old ceremonies and 
vestments. As this latter party was the stronger and 
was favoured by the civil power, they were able, in 1552, 
to have the book revised in accordance with their desires 
and to bring it more in accord with the work of the 
Protestant reformers of Germany. 

The Book of 1549. — The Book of 1549 had retained 
prayers for the departed in the Communion Office, the 
unction of the sick, the use of the cross in various 
services, the intercession to the Blessed Virgin Mary in 
the Litany, the reservation of the consecrated bread and 
wine for the use of the sick, the use of many of the old 
vestments and other things which were displeasing to the 
advanced reformers, and now through their influence, the 
book was subjected to a thorough revision and most of 
these things were removed. 

The second Book of Edward VI. — In the second Book 
of Edward VI (1552), Matins becomes Morning Prayer ^ 
and opens as in our present book with sentences, con- 
fession and absolution. The word Mass was dropped 
from the title of the Communion Office and the whole 
office rearranged by dislocating the old order, intro- 
ducing the Ten Commandments, and omitting, among 
other things, Prayer for the Dead and the Agnus Dei. 
No vestments were to be used except the surpHce. 

This book had but a short Hfe, for when Edward VI 
died in 1553, his half-sister Mary, who was a Roman Cath- 
olic, restored the Latin service. At her death in 1558, 
Elizabeth came to the throne and brought back the 
English Prayer Book, mainly in the form of the second 
Book of Edward VI, but with some changes making it 
more acceptable to the Conservative party. 

The Hampton Court Conference. — In the latter part 
of Eh'zabeth's reign, the Puritan party became strong and 
demanded changes in the Prayer Book, objecting to such 



238 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHEr's MANUAL 

ceremonies as had been retained ; e. g.y the ring in matri- 
mony, the cross in baptism, kneeling at the reception of 
the Holy Communion and the use of any vestments. 

With the accession of James I (1603), who had been 
the King of Scotland, where the Presbyterians were in 
power, the Puritans hoped to get the English Prayer 
Book revised. But the king, in the Hampton Court 
Conference, to their great disappointment, supported the 
bishops in refusing to make any important changes. 
In the next reign, when Archbishop Laud tried to en- 
force the use of the Prayer Book both in England and 
Scotland, the Puritan and Presbyterian parties in those 
countries were strong enough, not only to prevent this, 
but to overthrow Episcopacy itself and to abolish the 
use of the Prayer Book, replacing it with the Directory 
of Public Worship. Archbishop Laud and King Charles 
were both beheaded in the Civil War which followed, 
and the use of the Prayer Book was made a penal 
offence. 

The Savoy Conference. — When the Stuarts were re- 
stored in 1660, the use of the Prayer Book came back 
with them, and occasion was taken to revise it. The 
Presbyterian party still urged that many things be 
omitted and more freedom be given for extempore 
prayer. A conference between the Presbyterian and 
Church parties was held at the Savoy Palace in London, 
and has always been known as the Savoy Conference, in 
which the matters in dispute were discussed, but no 
agreement was arrived at, and only a very few changes 
were made in the way of satisfying the demands of the 
Presbyterians. The Convocation of the Church under- 
took a careful revision of the whole book, and after it had 
received their sanction it was attached to the Act of Uni- 
formity of Worship and became a part of the law of 
England. 

No later revisions. — The close connection between 
Church and State in England has prevented any later 



THE BOOK OF COiMMON PRAYER 239 

revisions, though several have been proposed. This 
Prayer Book of 1662 remains still the only one in use 
in the great English Church, and was the one used in 
the English Colonies in America before the Revolution 
of 1776. 

The Prayer Book in the United States. — The first re- 
corded use of the English Prayer Book within the pres- 
ent Hmits of the United States was in 1579, only thirty 
years after the introduction of the book in England. 
In that year Sir Francis Drake made his famous voyage 
up the Pacific Coast and landed near where San Fran- 
cisco now stands. Here the chaplain of the fleet held 
service, using the EngHsh Prayer Book. To commemo- 
rate this event, there has been erected in the Golden Gate 
Park at San Francisco a large stone cross called the 
Prayer Book Cross. 

Within another thirty years, the English people had 
established a permanent colony at Jamestown, where the 
English Prayer Book was used in the Church services, 
and now for more than three hundred years, there has 
never been a Sunday in which the prayers of this book 
have not been used in our land. The missionaries sent 
out by that venerable Society, " The Society for the Prop- 
agation of the Gospeiy called for short the " S. P. G.," 
carried the Prayer Book throughout the length and 
breadth of the land and when the Revolution broke out, 
it was used in every Colony. During the Revolution 
(1776- 1 78 3), the Church was much divided, some favour- 
ing the American and some the British cause. The former 
would not use the prayers in the Prayer Book for the 
King of England, and the latter were often forced by the 
patriot army to leave their churches. 

At the close of the war, the Churchmen in the new 
States organised themselves into The Protestant Episcopal 
Church, and decided to continue the use of the English 
Prayer Book, altering it in some parts to adapt it to the 
changed condition of civil life. 



240 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHERS MANUAL 

The earliest attempted revision (1785) called The Pro- 
posed Book, departed too far from the English Book, and 
was not accepted by the Church; but in 1789 a careful 
revision was undertaken by the General Convention and 
resulted in our present Prayer Book which was adopted 
for use throughout the whole United States. There were 
many small changes made in the language ; some things 
were left optional and some were omitted, as e, g., the 
Athanasian Creed, the Magnificat diVid the Nunc Dimittis. 
For the two latter were substituted two Psalms. The 
most important alteration was in the Prayer of Conse- 
cration in the Communion Service. This was now 
taken with slight changes from that in use in the Church 
of Scotland, where the non-juring bishops had conse- 
crated the first American bishop (Seabury, 1784). This 
prayer conforms much more nearly to that used in the 
early Church than the one in the English Prayer Book. 

Among the additions in the American Book of 1789 
were some of the Special Prayers and Thanksgivings, a 
service for Visitation of Prisoners, the Thanksgiving Day 
service, and a form of Family Prayer. 

Ten selections of Psalms were printed before the 
Psalter, any one of which might be used instead of the 
Psalter for the day. The first American Prayer Book 
ended with the Psalter. The Ordinal ^^.'s^ added in 1792, 
the form of Consecration of a Church or Chapel m 1799 
(there is no such service in the English Prayer Book) ; 
the office of Institution in 1808 (first introduced in 1804 
as office of Induction of Ministers). The Thirty-Nine 
Articles of Religion of the English Church were revised 
and finally set forth in their present form in 1 801. 

In the General Convention of 1826, Bishop Hobart of 
New York proposed changes in the Prayer Book, 
authorising a shortened form of Morning Prayer, and 
altering parts of the Confirmation Office ; but so general 
was the opposition to the proposed changes, that in the 
next Convention (1829) Bishop Hobart himself moved 



THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 24 1 

that the matter be dismissed from the consideration of 
the Convention. 

In 1853, Doctor Muhlenberg and others presented their 
famous Memorial to the House of Bishops, asking, among 
other things, for greater hberty in the use of the Prayer 
Book, and a committee of bishops was appointed to con- 
sider the matter. This committee, in 1856, reported a 
number of special prayers, none of which was adopted, 
and the House of Bishops adopted resolutions providing 
for special and shortened services ; but as this was the act 
of the House of Bishops alone, it was thought to be 
without authority. And here the matter of Prayer Book 
revision rested until the General Convention of 1880, 
when a joint commission of bishops, presbyters and lay- 
m.en was appointed to revise the Prayer Book. 

For twelve years the Churchmen in Diocesan Conven- 
tions and in the General Convention, as well as in the 
Church papers and pamphlets, gave themselves up to a 
study of the Prayer Book and the proposed changes. In 
the Convention of 1883, the joint commission, under the 
leadership of Doctor Huntington, presented a well- 
digested scheme of revision and to their report annexed 
a printed Prayer Book called The Book Annexed, showing 
what the Prayer Book would be like if all their changes 
were finally adopted. 

In accordance with the Constitution adopted by the 
General Convention, no change can be made in the 
Prayer Book at a single Convention. Such changes as 
are approved in one Convention must be made known to 
the various Diocesan Conventions, and then come up for 
final action at the next General Convention. 

Only a part of the changes proposed by the joint 
committee were approved in 1883, Some were rejected 
and others postponed until 1886. In the Convention of 
1886, final action was taken on the changes approved in 
1883, but not all were finally adopted ; while a large 
number of new changes were proposed in that Conven- 



242 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHERS MANUAL 

tion, some of which were approved and awaited final 
action in 1889. 

The Church at large was becoming restless at the con- 
tinual changing of the services and the consequent in- 
troduction of leaflets containing those changes which had 
received the final approval of the General Convention 
and were therefore the legal use of the Church. 

A strong effort was made in the Convention of 1889 to 
stop all further change, but largely through the influence 
of Doctor Huntington, it was decided to complete the 
work in 1892, and in the Convention of that year, the 
work of revision was brought to a close. A commission 
was empowered to prepare a single copy of the Prayer 
Book which should contain all the changes authorised, 
and to certify to its correctness with their signatures. 
Through the generosity of one of the committee, a 
magnificent volume was prepared and presented to the 
next Convention. This volume is known as the Stand- 
ard Prayer Book, and is put in the care of the Custodian 
of the Standard Prayer Book. This Custodian is elected 
by the General Convention and his duty is to certify 
to the correctness of every edition of the Prayer Book. 
His certificate must be printed in every authorised 
edition. 

This last revision accomplished much in the way of 
" enrichment and flexibility of use!' Many things in the 
English Book which had been omitted in 1789 were now 
restored and some new matter added ; while the rubrics 
were so changed as to secure shortened and special 
services, giving the minister considerable liberty in the 
use of the various offices. 



THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 243 

Part II. Its Contents 

The contents of the Prayer Book maybe divided thus : — 

(I) From the Title Page to Morning Prayer. — (In 
this portion the pages are numbered at the bottom in 
Roman numerals. In the rest of the Prayer Book the 
paging is uniform in all editions with the exception of 
those smaller than 32 mo). 

(II) From Morning Prayer to the Epistles and 
Gospels (pp. 1-51). 

(III) The Service for the Great Sacrament of the 
Lord's Supper (pp. 52-243). 

(IV) The Services for the Sacrament of Baptism, 
together with the Catechism and Office for Confirmation 
(pp. 244-276). 

(V) The Occasional Services (pp. 277-327). 

(VI) The Psalter (pp. 328-508). 

(VII) The Ordinal, together with the Offices for the 
Consecration of a Church and the Institution of Min- 
isters. — (This last division was not originally a part of 
the Book of Common Prayer, but was added after the 
book was first adopted.) 

I. From Title Page to Morning Prayer 

This portion contains the Preface, authorisation and 
general direction for the use of the book in the services, 
together with the Lectionary and Tables for finding Easter, 
and may be divided as follows : 

(i) The Title Page.— This should be committed to 
memory, as it gives in a concise form a statement of the 
contents and character of the book. The following points 
are to be noted : 

(a) •' Book."— Now a single book containing all the 
services instead of the many books which were 
needed in the Middle Ages. 
(<^) " Common prayer."— Public, for both minister 
and people ; for the common needs of all. 



244 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER's MANUAL 

(c) «* Administration of the Sacraments.'*—/, e., the 
two great Sacraments of the Holy Communion 
and Baptism. 

{d^ ** Other rites and ceremonies." — The other offices 
as, e. g., the Burial Office (technically a rite 
refers to the text, while ceremonies refer to the 
actions, as, e. g.y the making of the sign of the 
cross in baptism). 

(^) "Of the Church."— The Church of the creeds — 
the One, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic Church. 

(/") " According to the use of the Protestant Epis- 
copal Church in the United States of America." 
— The proper and legal form of service in 
our branch of the Church as distinguished 
from the English, Roman, Greek or other 
" usesT 

{£-) " The Psalter."— Used in the daily service and 
in most of the other services. 

(2) The Certificate. — The Certificate guarantees the 
integrity of the book. (See Article X of the Constitu- 
tion ; also Canon 41.) 

(3) The Table of Contents. — The Table of Contents 
is arranged in the order of our seven divisions, under 
twenty-nine heads ; those without number printed in 
italics correspond to our division VII. The Articles of 
Religion have a title page of their own. 

(4) The Ratification. — The Ratification shows when, 
where, and by whom the book was made the use of our 
Church. 

(5) The Preface. — The Preface is condensed from a 
preface written by Doctor William Smith for the Pro- 
posed Book of 1786. It gives reasons why changes in 
the forms of worship may at times be desirable and what 
the nature of those changes should be, quoting the ex- 
ample of the Church of England to justify such clianges. 
It also gives the occasion which led the American Church 
to revise the English Prayer Book, while declaring that 



THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 245 

" this Church is far from intending to depart from the 
Church of England in any essential point of doctrine, dis- 
cipline, or worship ; or further than local circumstances 
require." 

(6) Concerning the Service of the Church : 
(/2) A general statement relating to the various 
services.— This should be carefully read as it 
guides the minister in the use of the book. 
(3) The use of the Psalter.— On ordinary days and on 
special days and occasions. The proper Psalms 
for sixteen days mark these days as of special 
importance. Except on these sixteen days, one 
of the twenty selections may be used instead of 
the Psalter for the day of the month. In this 
way, great flexibility in the use of the Psalter is 
obtained. 
{c) The rest of Holy Scripture and Hymns and 
Anthems.— Note the following points : 
(i) General directions : Concerning the lessons 
and the liberty a minister has in the selection 
of the same. 
(ii) A table of proper lessons for Sundays : These 
lessons are selected for their appropriate con- 
nection with the teachings of the Church 
year, 
(iii) Table of proper lessons for Holy Days : Se- 
lected on account of some connection with 
the events celebrated on those days, 
(iv) Table of lessons for the forty days of Lent and 
for the Rogation and Ember Days : These are 
penitential seasons and the lessons are se- 
lected to emphasise the Church's teaching and 
may be used instead of the ordinary daily les- 
son found in the Calendar, while those in 
ii and iii must be used instead of such 
lessons. 
(v) Calendar lessons for each day of the month 



246 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER's MANUAL 

throughout the year : These are so selected 
as to cover nearly all of the Old Testament 
and all of the New Testament. In most cases 
they follow the order of the books of our 
Bible. Exceptions should be noted and rea- 
sons for them found. 
(7) Tables and Rules for the Movable and Immov- 
able Feasts and Fasts. — These tables help us to find the 
time when feasts and fasts are to be kept, and for the most 
part are connected with the finding of Easter Day. The 
immovable Holy Days are twenty-five, and should be 
learned with their dates. The nine Sundays which have 
special names should also be learned and their names ex- 
plained. The fasts and other days of fasting are specified. 
Note that " Holy Thursday " is not Thursday in Holy 
Week but Ascension Day. Explain the Rogation Days 
and the prayers provided for them found on page 41, and 
also the Ember Days and their prayers on page 40. 

The end of this section consists of five tables to find 
Easter Day in any year. The explanation of the 
Golden Number, Dominical Letter, Bissextile, or Leap 
Year, will be found in any good Prayer Book Commen- 
tary. 

II. From Morning Prayer to the Epistles 
AND Gospels 

(I) MORNING PRAYER 

This may be best divided into four parts as follows : 

( i) Prom the opening to the vereicle, " O Lord, open 
Thou our lips." 

(2) Praise : the Venite, Psalms, and Canticles. 

( 3) The hearing of God's 'Word in the two lessons and 
the recital of our belief, as founded on that Word, in the 
Creed. 

(4) Prayers. 

Let us examine each of these in turn. 



THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 24/ 

(l) The opening part.— The opening part begins with : 
(a) The Sentences. In the English Book, these are all 
of a penitential character, but in the American 
Book, new ones have been added and a part of 
them arranged according to the Church year, so 
that the minister may adapt the beginning of 
the service in some measure to the character of 
the season, by choosing appropriate sentences 
and using the hberty allowed by the rubrics. 
For example, on Christmas Day by using the 
proper sentence indicated on the margin by the 
word " Christmas " and passing at once to the 
Lord's Prayer, the opening part becomes joyful 
rather than penitential. The flexibility of use 
introduced at our last revision, is well illustrated 
in the rubrics preceding the sentences. These 
directions are called rubrics from the Latin word 
denoting red, because in the manuscripts before 
the age of printing they were written in red ink, 
and in many of the printed editions, they still 
appear in red. Special sentences are provided 
for the eight great Church seasons, 
(3) The Exhortation. In the Exhortation, the minis- 
ter invites the congregation to a common service, 
naming the characteristic parts of that service as 

(i) Confession of our sins. 

(ii) Praise and thanksgiving. 

(iii) Hearing God's Word. 

(iv) Prayer. 
{c) The General Confession. Note the printing ; i. e., 
the use of capital letters to mark off the different 
clauses so that people may keep together in 
saying this confession. This device is used in 
all forms that are to be said by the people and 
minister together, as may be seen in the Lord's 
Prayer, the Creeds, the prayer" Turn Thou us," 
etc., in the Penitential Office, the Confession 



248 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER'S MANUAL 

and the Ter Sanctus, etc. The " Amen " is 
printed in the same type as the Confession, 
which indicates that it is to be said by the same 
persons as the Confession. When printed in 
italics it is a response. 
(d) The Declaration of Absolution or Remission of 
Sins. None but a priest may use this. The 
second form is the one used in the Communion 
Service. In the American Book, three forms 
which regularly belong to the Communion 
Service, may be used as alternates in the Morn- 
ing and Evening Prayer. These are the " Gloria 
in Excelsis "for the " Gloria Patri," this second 
form of Absolution instead of the first one, and 
the Nicene Creed instead of the Apostles'. 
This liberty is seldom used in our Church now, 
and is not allowed in the English Church. 
{e) The Lord's Prayer. Note the liturgical printing 
dividing the Prayer into eleven clauses and the 
printing of the " Amen." Two forms of this 
Prayer are found in the Prayer Book, one ending 
with " lead us not into temptation," the other, 
the longer form used here. The shorter form 
is that found in all the old Latin services. Our 
translation of the Lord's Prayer is not taken 
from the Bible translation, but from the old 
English Primers. 
(2) Praise. The Venite, Psalter and Canticles. In 
the first English Prayer Book, Morning Prayer began 
with the Lord's Prayer, followed by the versicle, " O Lord, 
open Thou my hps," which was always said at the begin- 
ning of Matins in the Latin service. 

(cC) Praise ye the Lord. This is a translation of Alle- 
luia which stood here in the first English Book. 
The response, " The Lord's name be praised," 
was first inserted in 1661 and taken from the 
Scottish Prayer Book of 1637. At this point 



THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 249 

the service of praise may be said to begin and 
is ushered in by 
{b) The Venite. This has been used from early times 
as an invitation to praise, and an introduction 
to the use of the Psalter in the daily service. 
The title " Venite, Exultemus Domino " is the 
Latin title to the 95th Psalm (94th in the Latin 
Psalter ) ; but the Venite in our book is com- 
posed of the first seven verses of the 95th Psalm 
to which are added the ninth and thirteenth 
verses of the 96th Psalm as being more appro- 
priate than the last verses of the 95th. The Eng- 
lish Book has the full 95th Psalm. There are 
special anthems to be used instead of the Venite 
on Easter Day and Thanksgiving Day. Provis- 
ion is made for the omission of the Venite here 
on the nineteenth day of the month as it oc- 
curs in the Psalter for that day, but a selection 
of Psalms may be used instead of the Psalter 
and the Venite retained. 
Note the use of the musical colon in the Venite and 
all Psalms and Canticles. 

(c) The Psalter. The whole one hundred and fifty 

Psalms are distributed into sixty portions, thirty 
for Morning and thirty for Evening Prayer. 
Instead of these daily portions, one of the twenty 
selections may be used except on the sixteen 
days for which proper Psalms are provided. 

(d) Gloria Patri. Or, " Glory be to the Father," etc. 

This is used at the end of the Psalms in order 
to convert them into Christian hymns. At the 
end of the whole portion of the Psalter, may 
be sung the Gloria in Excelsis instead of the 
Gloria Patri. There is a third " Gloria " in the 
Prayer Book, the Gloria Tibi, or, " Glory be to 
Thee, O God," said at the announcement of the 
Gospel in the Communion Service. 



250 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER'S MANUAL 

{e) T}ie Canticles. These are used as responses to the 
Lessons. It was a very early custom to inter- 
sperse the singing of Psalms with the reading 
of Holy Scripture, 
(i) Te Deum Laudamus, ** We praise Thee, O 
God." This is the first of the strictly so- 
called Canticles as distinguished from Psalms. 
The others are the Benedicite and Benedictus 
in the Morning Prayer, and the Magnificat 
and Nunc Dimittis in Evening Prayer. These 
Canticles with some others were often placed 
at the end of the Psalter in the Middle Ages. 
It is not surely known who was the author of 
the Te Deum. It was early used in the serv- 
ices of the Latin Church, and is the only 
Canticle not found in the Bible. It may con- 
veniently be divided into three parts : (a) 
Praise to the eternal Father ; (b) a confession 
of faith in each person of the Blessed Trinity 
with especial reference to the work of the 
Son, and (c), a prayer addressed to the Son 
for the Church which He has redeemed with 
His precious blood. The original form of the 
Te Deum ended with the words " glory ever- 
lasting." The last part is an appendix added 
at different times. It may be noted that the 
phrase " the noble army of martyrs " is more 
closely translated in the English Primers as 
*' the white-robed host of martyrs." " Make 
them to be numbered," etc., is not found in 
any manuscript, but instead *' make them to 
be rewarded," etc. The Te Deum does not 
close with the Gloria Patri, for the whole 
hymn is a praise to the Holy Trinity, 
(ii) The Benedicite. The Benedicite is the song of 
the three children in the fiery furnace as re- 
corded in the Septuagint translation of the 



THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 2$ I 

Old Testament in the third chapter of the 
book of Daniel. In the first English Book it 
was to be used during Lent instead of the 
Te Deum. Now there is no special direction 
when it should be used. It may be divided 
into four groups of invocations : 

Those addressed to the angels, the heavens and 
the heavenly bodies. 

To the great forces and phenomena of nature. 

The animate works of God. 

The children of men, and specially the priests 
and servants of the Lord. 

This being a Jewish hymn and containing no 
mention of the Trinity, is followed by the 
Gloria Patri. 
(iii) The Benedictus. Anciently called the <• song 
of Zachary " and is divided into two parts : 

A thanksgiving for the advent of the Messiah 
so long promised to mankind. 

A prophecy of the mission of the Baptist. 

Until the last revision of our Prayer Book, only 

the first four verses were used; at our last 

revision (1892) the last eight verses were 

added but the whole Canticle was required to 

be used only on Sundays in Advent. 

(iv) The Jubilate Deo. This Psalm is provided as 

an alternate to the Benedictus and when first 

introduced seems to have been used only 

when the Benedictus was read in the Lessons 

or Gospel. The Te Deum and the Jubilate 

are generally used on occasions of public 

thanksgiving. 

(3) The hearing- of God's "Word, or the reading of Holy 

Scripture. — At first there seems to have been no fixed 

system of lessons. Afterward, certain lessons were 

selected for the yearly festivals. In the mediaeval 

Church, there were three or nine lessons in the morning 



252 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHERS MANUAL 

services, but these lessons were very short and inter- 
rupted by a *' multitude of Responds, Verses, and vain 
Repetitions." One of the main objects of the first Eng- 
lish Prayer Book was to introduce the orderly reading of 
the whole Bible. The Old Testament is read for the first 
lesson, and the New Testament for the second lesson. 
By this arrangement nearly the whole of the Old Testa- 
ment is read through once during the year, and the New 
Testament twice. (See Concerning the Services of the 
Church.) 

(4) The Creed.— The Creed is a short statement of 
our belief founded upon God's Word, and contains the 
fundamental doctrines of the Church. Note the 
liturgical printing, the three parts devoted to Father, 
Son and Holy Ghost, and the twelve Articles divided 
by the colon, and the eighteen clauses marked out by 
the capital letters. Compare the Articles of the two 
Creeds. The Nicene has the same three parts and 
twelve Articles, but twenty-eight clauses. The Enghsh 
Church has a third Creed, called the Creed of St. 
Athanasius. In the Apostles' Creed we are allowed to 
substitute for the words " He descended into hell " the 
words " He went into the place of departed spirits," but 
it is seldom done. Liturgically, it is better to confine 
the use of the Nicene Creed to the Communion Service. 

(5) Prayers.— After the Creed, come the Prayers in- 
troduced by a short set of versicles and responses. Here 
the English Book has the lesser Litany and the Lord's 
Prayer, and also more versicles than our own. 

{a) Collect for the Day. The first of the prayers is 
the Collect for the Day, to be found among the 
collects used in the Communion Service and 
serves as a daily memorial of that service. It 
may be omitted when the Communion Service 
immediately follows Morning Prayer. 
Many of these collects of our Prayer Book have 
been in use for centuries and some of them can 



THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 253 

be traced to the service books of the fifth and 
sixth centuries. These ancient collects are most 
carefully constructed and in their Latin form 
many have a metrical structure. A full and 
perfect collect has five parts : 
(i) The invocation, usually addressed to God the 
Father, though a few, as those for the third 
Sunday in Advent and St. Stephen's Day, are 
addressed to Christ, and one in the office of 
Institution beginning, •* O God, Holy Ghost," 
is addressed to the third person of the Holy 
Trinity, 
(ii) The basis of our petition, usually some at- 
tribute or characteristic of God. 
(iii) The petition itself, generally a single sentence, 
(iv) The desired result of our petition, or aspiration, 
(v) The close, usually in the name of Jesus Christ. 
A good example of such a collect is the one 
for " Peace in Morning Prayer," or that for 
" Purity " at the beginning of Holy Com- 
munion. Lord Macaulay has spoken of the 
ancient collects in the Prayer Book as having 
soothed the grief of forty generations of Chris- 
tians. It would be easy to multiply testi- 
monials to their helpfulness. '• They satisfy 
the sense of religious duty ; they stock the 
mind with holy memories — they hint at the 
vastness of divine truth in comparison with 
man's attempt to speak it ; they make the 
soul's conscious approaches to God more 
steadily reverent and therefore, more health- 
ily real." 
(J?) A Collect for Peace. This follows the Collect for 
the Day. This collect is found in the Gelasian 
Sacramentary and has been used in England 
for more than 1,200 years. 
(c) The Collect for Grace. It comes, in part, from 



254 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER'S MANUAL 

the same Sacramentary. In the first English 
Prayer Book and until 1661 Morning Prayer 
ended with this collect. In the present English 
Book the prayers for the King and Royal Fam- 
ily follow here. These were the first prayers 
changed at the time of the American Revolu- 
tion. 
(d) The Prayer for the President of the United States 
and all in Civil Authority. This took the 
place of these EngHsh prayers and was modelled 
upon them. 
{e) A Prayer for the Clergy and People. First found 
in the Sacramentary of Gelasius and translated 
and inserted in the English Primers before the 
Reformation. 

(/") A Prayer for All Conditions of Men. This prayer 
in the English Book is the last among the special 
prayers and is ordered " to be used at such 
times when the Litany is not appointed to be 
said." The phrase enclosed in brackets and the 
side rubric were omitted from the first American 
Book but restored in the revision of 1892. 

i^g) A General Thanksgiving. Drawn up by Rey- 
nolds, Bishop of Norwich, in 1661 and placed 
in the English Book among the Special Thanks- 
givings. Both this and the Prayer for All Con- 
ditions of Men were transferred to Morning and 
Evening Prayer in the first American Book. 
The portion in brackets and the side rubric were 
restored in our last American revision. 
(h) A Prayer of St. Chrysostom. This prayer occurs 
in the Hturgies of St. Basil and St. Chrysostom, 
though it is doubtful if it can be traced to St. 
Chrysostom himself. It was placed at the end 
of the Litany in 1544 and in 1661 was added 
also at the end of Morning and Evening Prayer. 
(/) The Grace. (2 Corinthians 13 : 14.) This is often 



THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 255 

called " The Grace " and reminds us of the 
threefold repetition of the sacred name of Je- 
hovah used by the Jews (Numbers 6: 24-26). 



(II) EVENING PRAYER 

The order of the evening service follows very closely 
that of the morning and many parts are exactly the same 
as, e. g., the Exhortation, Confession, Absolution, Lord's 
Prayer, Creeds, etc. 

The main differences are noted below : 

(a) Opening Sentences. — A different selection is 
made in the part devoted to the Church seasons from 
Advent to Trinity Sunday. (It will be noted there is no 
use of the Venite, for that invitation to praise in Morn- 
ing Prayer was for the whole day.) 

(b) Gloria in Excelsis. — Printed here though its use 
is the same as that authorised in Morning Prayer. 

(c) The Magnificat, or the Song of Mary. — In the 
first American Book this was omitted and the first four 
verses of the 92d Psalm substituted, but this hymn was 
restored in our last revision. 

(d) Nunc Dimittis, or the Song of Simeon. — Also left 
out of the first American Book and in its place was put 
the first four and the last three verses of Psalm 103, 
but this hymn likewise was restored in our last revision. 

(^) Versicles after the Creed. — In our last revision 
these were made to conform more nearly to those of the 
English Prayer Book. 

(/) A Collect for Peace.— This came from the Sacra- 
mentary of Gelasius and differs from the Collect with the 
same title in Morning Prayer in praying for the inward 
peace which the world cannot give; while the prayer 
for peace in the morning service is for victory in our 
struggles with the world. 

[g) A Collect for Aid Against Perils.— This comes 
from the same source as the Collect for Peace. Until our 



256 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER's MANUAL 

last revision the first clause ran, " O Lord, our Heavenly 
Father, by whose almighty power we have been pre- 
served this day," but at that time the original form of the 
English Book was restored. 

(It) The Anthem.— In the English Book this followed 
the third collect and formed the close of the service. 
Our rubric now allows the minister to end Evening 
Prayer at this point. (The other prayers in the evening 
service are repetitions of those in Morning Prayer.) 



(Ill) THE LITANY OR GENERAL SUPPLICATION 

This is derived from the Greek word meaning suppli- 
cation or prayer and was especially used to denote the 
prayers said by the clergy and people while making pro- 
cessions. It generally consisted of short petitions by the 
priest answered by the people with such phrases as, 
*' O Lord, have mercy upon us ; " " O Lord, deliver us ; " 
and " Hear us, O Lord." These special forms of prayer 
were much used in the early Church and were sometimes 
called Rogations. In 460 a. d., Bishop Mamertus of 
Vienne ordered that Rogation should be said on the three 
days before Ascension and this custom has continued 
from that time to the present. Gregory the Great, also, 
ordered a solemn Litany to be said on St. Mark's Day 
and this came into England in 747 a. d. In England 
these litanies and others of a similar kind popularly called 
Processions were much used and as we have seen, the 
first service to be authorised in the English language was 
the Litany of 1544 which was called the Common Prayer 
of Procession. In 1549 it was placed at the end of the 
Communion Office, but in 1552 it was transferred to its 
present position. 

The Litany may be divided as follows : 

{a) The Invocations.— These are the first four clauses 
invoking each person of the Holy Trinity separately and 
then collectively. 



THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 25/ 

{b) The Deprecations. —The next six clauses intro- 
duced by the prayer*' Remember not, Lord, our offences," 
etc., which was placed here in 1549. It had formerly 
been used as the antiphon to the seven'penitential Psalms 
sung in connection with the Litany. These deprecations 
may be compared with the petition in the Lord's Prayer, 
" Deliver us from evil." 

(c) The Obsecrations.— These include the next three 
parts beginning with " By the mystery of Thy Holy In- 
carnation." In these we plead with Christ to deliver us 
by the remembrance of each act in His atoning work 
from the Incarnation to the Ascension. 

(d) The Intercessions.— The next sixteen parts in 
which we intercede for " all sorts and conditions of men." 
The petition, " That it may please Thee to send forth 
labourers into Thy harvest," was added at our last revision 
and is not in the English Book. 

(e) The Supplications.— The next two parts in which 
we pray for ourselves, 

(/) Versicles and Prayers.— The versicles begin with 
" Son of God, we beseech Thee to hear us." After the 
first three versicles the minister may omit all to the 
prayer, " We humbly beseech Thee." This is not allowed 
in the Enghsh Book. The prayer beginning, •' O God, 
merciful Father," is the only one in the Prayer Book 
without an Amen. The omission was probably an over- 
sight at first but it has been printed so in all the English 
and American Books. 

The versicles that follow are taken from an occasional 
portion added to the Litany in the time of war. The 
final Collect, ** We humbly beseech Thee," etc., is adapted 
from the Latin form used on Rogation Day. 

The General Thanksgiving was never a part of the 
Litany in the English Church, but was placed here in our 
first American Book. 

The prayer of St. Chrysostom and The Grace were 
first printed here in 1559. 



258 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER's MANUAL 

(IV) PRAYERS AND THANKSGIVINGS UPON SEVERAL 
OCCASIONS 

Such a collection of special forms is found in the 
English Prayer Book, and this is the source of many 
of those in our book. New ones were added in 1789 
and later, especially in the last revision when this whole 
section was rearranged and put in its present form. 



Prayers 

(a) For Congress.— This is based upon the prayer for 
Parliament in the English Book. 

{p) To be used at the Meetings of Convention. — This 
was composed in 1799 for use in the General Convention 
and printed at the end of the Prayer Book. Later it was 
placed at the end of this section of special prayers, and 
in the last revision it was changed to its present position. 

(c) For the Unity of G-od's People.— This is taken from 
the English office used on the anniversary of the accession 
of the sovereign. 

(d) For Missions.— This was added at our last re- 
vision, and is almost the same as a prayer set forth by 
Bishop Cotton of Calcutta about 1861 for use in British 
India. 

(e) For Rain and for Fair Weather.— Taken with slight 
changes from the English Book. 

(/) In Time of Dearth and Famine.— One of the two 
forms found in the English Book. 

{g) In Time of "War and Tumults.— This is a modified 
form of a prayer with the same title in the English Book. 

(Z?) For those -who are to be admitted into Holy 
Orders.— Both these prayers are taken from the English 
Book. 

(i) For Fruitful Seasons.— These forms were added at 
our last revision. The first is taken from the work of the 
Commission for the Review of the English Prayer Book 
of 1689. The second before its appearance here had been 



THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 259 

set forth for use in the Diccese of Pittsburg by Bishop 
Whitehead. 

(y) In Tim© of Great Sickness and Mortality.— Com- 
piled partly from a corresponding prayer in the English 
Book and from the commendatory prayer in The Visita- 
tion of the Sick. 

i^k) For a Sick Person.— Compiled from the prayers in 
The Visitation of the Sick. 

(/) For a Sick Child.— Also modified from a prayer in 
The Visitation of the Sick. 

[in) For a Person, or Persons, going to Sea.— Com- 
piled from the first of the forms of Prayer to be Used at 
Sea. 

(«) For a Person under Aflaiction.— Taken in part 
from the Litany and a prayer in The Visitation of the 
Sick. 

[0) For Malefactors, after Condemnation. — This ap- 
pears for the first time in the American Book of 1789. 



Thanksgivings 

{a) Of "Women after Childbirth.- Taken from The 
Churching of Women. 

{b) For Rain and for Fair "Weather.— Taken with 
slight changes from the English Book. 

{c) For Plenty.— Taken from the English Book. 

{d ) For Peace, and Deliverance from our Enemies.— 
Taken from the English Book. 

{e) For Restoring Public Peace at Home.— From the 
English Book. 

(/) For Deliverance from Great Sickness and Mor- 
tality.— Taken from the English Book. 

[g) For a Recovery from Sickness.— Appears first in 
the American Book of 1789. 

(//) For a Child's Recovery from Sickness.— This 
prayer is based on The Thanksgiving of Women After 
Childbirth. 



260 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHEr's MANUAL 

(/) For a Safe Return from Sea.— Compiled from the 
Collects of Thanksgiving in the Forms of Prayer to be 
Used at Sea. 

(5) A Penitential Office for Ash Wednesday.— This 

is mainly taken from an office in the English Prayer 
Book entitled " A Commination, or denouncing of God's 
anger and judgments against sinners." This English 
service took the place of a mediaeval service in which the 
central act was a blessing of ashes which were then 
placed on the heads of those present as a symbol of 
penitence. The service was held on the first day of Lent 
which was called Ash Wednesday from this custom of 
using ashes. 

In 1789 three prayers were taken from this English 
Commination service and placed before the Collect, 
Epistle and Gospel for Ash Wednesday. At our last 
revision, 1892, the present Penitential Office was inserted 
and the three prayers were given a place in it. This 
office differs from the English Commination mainly in 
omitting the introduction, which consists of exhortation 
and the denouncing of God's wrath in the form of cursings. 

Note the liturgical use of capital letters in the prayer 
which is to be said by the people after the minister. The 
next prayer is found in the English Book among the 
Special Prayers. On Ash Wednesday, this office is to be 
used in connection with the Litany but on other days it 
may be used as a separate office. 

III. The Service for the Great Sacrament 

OF THE LORD'S SUPPER 
(I) THE COLLECTS, EPISTLES AND GOSPELS 

This part of the Prayer Book, from page 52 to page 
221, contains the Collects, Epistles and Gospels v/hich 
are used in the Communion Service. So here really 
begins that part of the Prayer Book devoted to this 
great sacrament. 

For the fixed Holy Days.— Owing to the fact that 



THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 26 1 

Easter Sunday may vary in date five weeks, i. e.^ between 
March 22d and April 25th, the Collects, Epistles and 
Gospels for the fixed Holy Days, which always fall on the 
same day of the month in each year, cannot be arranged 
in connection with those for the Sundays except in that 
small portion of the Church year which is not affected by 
the movabihty of Easter ; namely, from Christmas to the 
Epiphany. In this part fall Christmas Day, St. Stephen's 
Day, St. John the Evangelist's Day, the Innocent's Day, the 
Civcnmcision of Christ and the Epiphany, or the Manifes- 
tation of Christ to the Gentiles. The Collect, Epistle and 
Gospel for these Holy Days are found here in proper re- 
lation with those for Sundays, while those for the other 
fixed Holy Days are placed in chronological order at the 
end of this section after the Sunday next before Advent 
(page 188 ff). 

For the Sundays.— The arrangement of the Sundays 
from the first Sunday in Advent to the Sunday next be- 
fore Advent is sometimes called the Dominical year, from 
the Latin word Dominica, meaning Lord's day, or Sun- 
day, and hence the Epistles and Gospels for these Sun- 
days are also called the Dominical Epistles and Gospels. 
Provision is made for fifty-four Sundays. Because of 
the change in the date of Easter, some years may have 
only one Sunday after Epiphany, while having twenty- 
seven Sundays after Trinity. In such a case the Collects, 
Epistles and Gospels of two of those Sundays omitted 
that year after Epiphany, are to be used after the twenty- 
fourth Sunday after Trinity in order to complete the 
twenty-seven Sundays. Some years only a single Sun- 
day need be transferred. Again, when Easter comes ver}- 
late, there are only twenty-two Sundays after Trinity, 
and the services for the twenty-third and twenty-fourth 
Sundays after Trinity are omitted in these years. Ap- 
propriate Collects, Epistles and Gospels are provided for 
eighty-two days, and Epistles and Gospels (but no special 
Collects) for nine other days ; viz., for four days in Holy 



262 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER's MANUAL 

Week, two in Easter Week, and two in the week follow- 
ing Whitsunday and Sunday after Christmas. 

Epistle and Gospel.— The selection of particular pass- 
ages of Scripture to be read at the Holy Communion 
was made very early, and the choice of most of our 
Epistles and Gospels has been ascribed to St. Jerome. 
Though the selection may not actually have been made 
by him, yet these same Epistles and Gospels have been 
used in all parts of the Western Church for many cen- 
turies, and are still used in the Roman and Lutheran 
Churches as well as in the English and our own. 

Collects.— At our last revision, a rubric was placed at 
the beginning of this section, allowing the use of the 
Collect appointed for any Sunday or other Feast at the 
evening service of the day before, thus recognising the 
old custom that the ecclesiastical day began with the 
evening (see Gen. 1:5): "And the evening and the 
morning were the first day." The seasons of Advent and 
Lent each have what is called a season Collect, that for 
the first Sunday in Advent and for Ash Wednesday ; 
these are to be said after the proper Collect of the day 
throughout those seasons respectively. Provision was 
made in the last revision of our Prayer Book for two 
celebrations of the Holy Communion on Christmas and 
Easter, and a proper Collect, Epistle and Gospel were in- 
serted for each of these. 

Teaching of Church Year.— It is by means of the Col- 
lect, Epistle and Gospel that the teaching of the Church 
year is made prominent. They are generally so chosen in 
the first half of the year as to follow the earthly life of 
Christ and so this period from Advent to Trinity is often 
called Semester Chi'isti, or, the half-year oi Christ. In the 
second half of the year, the Collect, Epistle and Gospel 
bring before us most of the great truths of our religion 
and the practical duties of the Christian ; and this has re- 
ceived the name of the Semester Ecclesice, or the half- 
year of the Church. 



THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 263 

The seasons of the Church year.— The seasons of the 
Church year have also received appropriate names. As 
the word tide in old English meant time or season, this 
was added to the special name. The Christian tides or 
seasons are usually reckoned as follows : 

Adventide — Four weeks. 

Christmastide — Twelve days. 

Epiphanytide — From one to six weeks depending 
upon the date of Easter. 

Pre-Lententide — Three weeks or Sundays immediately 
preceding Ash Wednesday. 

Lententide — Six weeks, or Sundays. 

(But the last two weeks of Lent are often 
spoken of as Passiontide ; i. e.y from the 
fifth Sunday in Lent to Easter.) 

Eastertide — Forty days. 

Ascensiontide — Ten days. 

Whitsuntide — One week. 

Trinitytide — From twenty-two to twenty-seven weeks 
depending upon the date of Easter. 

Holy Week.— The only week which has a special 
Epistle and Gospel for each day is Holy Week, the week 
immediately preceding Easter. The Thursday in this 
week is often called Maunday Thursday (from manda- 
tum, Latin for command in reference to Christ's words, 
" A new commandment I give unto you," which were 
used in the Latin service on that day). This distin- 
guishes the day from Holy Thursday, which name is given 
in the Prayer Book to Ascension Day. 

The movable Holy Days.— The movable Holy Days, 
twelve in number, such as Ash Wednesday and Ascen- 
sion, always keep their relative positions in relation to the 
Sundays and are put in their proper position among the 
Sundays. At the last revision of the American Book, 



264 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER's MANUAL 

one new Feast Day was added, the Transfiguration of 
Christ, and fixed for the sixth of August. 

(H) THE LORD'S SUPPER OR HOLY COMMUNION 

The Lord's Supper or Holy Communion is the 
service for one of the two great sacraments ordained 
by Christ Himself, and the essential words and ac- 
tions are those appointed at the original institution of 
the sacrament by Him. The first three Evangelists 
give an account of this first institution and agree in 
all the main points, and St. Paul, who says that he re- 
ceived his account from the revelation of Christ Him- 
self, confirms the Evangelists. (See St. Matt. 26: 26-28; 
St. Mark 14:22-24; St. Luke 22:19-20; i Cor. 11: 
23-26.) From the Day of Pentecost, the Church 
began to celebrate this sacrament of the Holy Commun- 
ion, and it has been continued in all parts of the Chris- 
tian Church from that time to this. It is the one uni- 
versal service of the whole Church and forms the culmi- 
nation of our Christian worship. 

In very early times.— In very early times, most likely 
from the days of the Apostles, the service was divided 
into two great parts, the first devoted mainly to reading 
the Scripture and instruction and prayer, and the second 
to the consecration and reception of the bread and wine. 
Every one was admitted to the first part, where they 
could listen to the Word of God and receive instruction, 
but onl}^ communicants were allowed to stay for the 
second part. 

In later times.— In later times the first part was called 
the Missa Catechumenoriim, or Dismissal of the Cate- 
chumens, i. e., the learners (cf. Catechism). The second 
part was called the Missa Fideliuniy or Dismissal of the 
Faithful. The Latin word missa was changed in English 
into Mass and this was the most usual name for the 
sacrament in the Middle Ages. It is still used in the 
Roman Church, and the book in which the service is 



THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 26$ 

printed is called the Missal. The word Mass was re- 
tained as one of the titles in the first English Book. 
It was dropped in the second book, and only the two 
retained which we now have; viz., the Lord's Supper 
and the Holy Communion, both found in the New 
Testament. 

There have been other names used for this sacrament 
such as the Eucharist (meaning Thanksgiving), or. The 
Divine Liturgy, still used by the Greek Church. 

In our Church.— In our Church the two great parts of 
the service are frequently called the Ante-Communion and 
the Communion proper, the first extending from the be- 
ginning through the Gospel (or perhaps better, through 
the prayer for Christ's Church MiHtant), and the latter 
from that point to the end. As in all the old services, 
the first part is devoted to preparation, hearing God's 
word in the Epistle and Gospel, listening to instruction 
in a sermon ; while in the second part, as we have noted 
above, occur the consecration and reception of the ele- 
ments, and the thanksgiving for the benefits received. 

The service begins with 

The Rubrics.— The rubrics at the beginning of the 
office insist on the one great requirement for those who 
come to this sacrament ; viz., that they should be in love 
and charity with one another, for without this, there can 
be no communion or fellowship. 

The third rubric, the one immediately before the 
Lord's Prayer, prescribes the vesting of the Holy Table, 
its place in the Church, and the position of the minister 
at the beginning of this service. 

The Ante-Communion.— The Ante-Communion, which 
must always be said on every Sunday and Holy Day, can 
be divided into the following eleven parts : 

(a) The Lord's Prayer. In some places the people 
say this with the minister according to the rubric on 
page five in Morning Prayer. In other places only the 



266 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER's MANUAL 

minister says it in accordance with ancient use and the 
rubric immediately preceding it here. The Hturgical 
printing of the prayer would indicate that the American 
revisers intended it to be used by the people. 

(^) The Collect for Purity. This is the name given 
to the Collect following the Lord's Prayer. This Collect 
has been used in the Church of England for centuries, 
and before the Reformation was used in the Sarum Missal 
as a part of the priest's preparation for the Holy Com- 
munion. 

(c) The Decalogue, or Ten Commandments . This 
was first inserted in the second Book of Edward VI, when 
the order of the parts in the Communion Service was 
much changed. The response to the Commandments 
is an expanded form of the Kyrie Eleison (" Lord have 
mercy"), which was repeated nine times at this place in 
the Latin service and in the first English Book. The 
response to the tenth commandment is a different form 
of the expanded Kyrie. To provide for a shorter form 
of the Communion Service, the Decalogue may be 
omitted, \i it be said once on each Sunday. In case it 
is omitted the Summary of the Law and the Lesser 
Litany must be said. 

(d) The Summary of the Law, This was inserted in 
the American Book in 1789, and taken from the Scotch 
Non-Jurors' Book. 

{e) The Lesser Litany. This was added at the last 
American revision and is to be used when the Decalogue 
is omitted. 

(/) The Invariable Collect, This name is sometimes 
given to the Collect immediately preceding the Collect 
for the Day, as it never changes. It was taken from the 
Scotch Book and put here in 1789. 

(^) The Collect for the Day, Found just before the 
Epistle and Gospel for the Day. 

{Ji) Epistle and Gospel. On announcement of the 
Gospel is said or sung, " Glory be to Thee, O Lord," 



THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 26/ 

called in Latin Gloria Tibi. This response was used in 
the first English Prayer Book but omitted in all the later 
ones, and yet in most English Churches custom has pre- 
served its use. 

( / ) Creed. Either the Nicene or Apostles'. Before 
our last revision the Creed was not printed here, but the 
rubric required one of the two to be used unless Morning 
Prayer had been said immediately before. In the last 
revision the same rubric was retained but the Nicene 
Creed was printed here, and required to be used at least 
on the following five great festivals : Christmas, Easter, 
Ascension, Whitsunday, and Trinity Sunday. 

(y) Sermon. After Hstening to God's Word in the 
Epistle and Gospel and repeating a summary of the faith 
founded on that Word, the people listen to an instruction 
drawn from that same Word. (Before the sermon the 
notices are given out.) 

{k) The Offertory. This is that part of the service 
during which the offerings of the people are received and 
offered upon the altar. It begins with one or more of 
the offertory sentences and properly ends with the prayer 
for Christ's Church Militant in which occurs the Prayer 
of Oblation. Our American Book, however, seems to ex- 
clude the offertory from the Ante-Communion and to use 
it only when there is a Communion ; but it is a general 
custom to receive the offerings and present them even 
when there is no Communion. The offertory sentences 
in the first American Book were taken unchanged from 
the English. In the last revision one new one was 
prefixed and four added at the end. When the offerings 
are placed on the altar, an offertory anthem may be sung. 

( / ) Prayer for Chrisf s Church Militant. This ought 
properly to belong to the Ante-Communion as it com- 
pletes our offerings by asking God to accept them and 
then proceeds to pray for all estates in Christ's Church. 

The Conununion proper.— The Communion proper, or 
second part, may be divided into three portions : 



268 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER'S MANUAL 

{a) Preparation. When there is to be a Communion, 
the bread and wine which are later to be conse- 
crated are placed on the Holy Table at the 
time of the Offertory and these then become a 
part of the oblation. After the prayer of 
Christ's Church MiUtant, those who are not to 
receive usually withdraw and the more imme- 
diate preparation for the actual Communion 
begins. This consists of the following : 
(i) The Exhortation. To those who come to the 
Holy Communion to try and examine them- 
selves, etc. This is followed by 
(ii) The Invitation. " Ye who do truly and ear- 
nestly repent you of your sins," etc. 
(iii) Confession. Note the liturgical printing of this 
form which is to be said by priest and people, 
(iv) Absolution. To be said by the Bishop if he 
is present, otherwise by a priest, but never by 
a deacon, 
(v) Comfortable Words. These were taken by 
Cranmer in 1548 from a German service 
book, and for this reason differ from the 
Bible translation. 

(^) Consecration and reception. This part COrreSponds 

in a general way with the Anaphora of the 
Greek service and the Carioit of the Mass of the 
Latin, and begins with 
(i) The Sursum Corda, " Lift up your hearts." 
These words are found in the earliest liturgies. 
(ii) The Preface. Originally the preface to the 
great Thanksgiving Prayer during which the 
elements were consecrated. But the intro- 
duction of the Prayer of Humble Access be- 
fore the Prayer of Consecration destroys the 
continuity. This dislocation took place in 
1552. Proper prefaces are provided for the 
same five great festivals on which the Nicene 



THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 269 

Creed must be said, and the preface ends with 
the Ter Sanctus, or Thrice Holy, said by all 
the people. This is followed by 

(iii) The Prayer of Humble Access. This name is 
given to it in the Scotch office. The prayer 
was composed for the Order of Communion in 
1548 for use immediately before reception and 
is peculiarly appropriate for that place, but in 
1552 it was transferred to this position. 

(iv) The Prayer of Consecration. In the early 
services of the Greek Church this prayer was 
much longer than ours and contained refer- 
ences to the whole history of redemption 
from the creation of the world to the death of 
Christ. In the Latin Church, the prayer was 
much shorter, and in the English we have but 
a remnant of this long history of redemption. 
The whole prayer may be divided as follows : 

(a) History of Redemption. This is only the last 

part of the longer history found in the older 
liturgies, and extends from " All glory be 
to Thee," to " For in the night." 

(b) Narrative of the Original Institution. This 

includes the manual acts in imitation of the 
acts of Christ at the Last Supper. 

(c) The Oblation of the Holy Gifts. Making 

thereby the memorial commanded by 
Christ. This in the Greek service is called 
the Great Oblation to distinguish it from 
the two previous oblations of the elements : 
the first when they were carefully prepared 
at a table in the vestry room, called the 
Prothesis ; and the second when they were 
brought into the Church at the Great En- 
trance and offered and placed on the Holy 
Table before the Prayer of Consecration. 

(d) The Invocation. This is the prayer for the 



2/0 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHERS MANUAL 

blessing and sanctifying of the elements by 
the Holy Spirit that we, receiving them, 
may be partakers of the most blessed Body 
and Blood of Christ. It was the culmi- 
nating point of the great Prayer of Conse- 
cration, and a most important part of the 
early Hturgies. Our Prayer Book recog- 
nises the importance of the Invocation by 
requiring it to be said when during any 
Communion there is need of consecrating 
a new supply of either bread or wine. 
Such a prayer was probably a part of the 
early Latin form of Consecration, but seems 
later to have been lost sight of and so the 
form in the English Book, which is based 
on that of the Latin, lacks this special In- 
vocation. Its introduction into our book 
was due mainly to the influence of Bishop 
Seabury, who had introduced into the 
Church in Connecticut in 1786 the Com- 
munion Service of the Scotch Non-Jurors 
which contains this Invocation. Indeed, 
our whole Prayer of Consecration is taken 
almost vei'batim from this service, 
(e) Prayer for Worthy Reception. In this we 
plead the merits and death of Christ for 
the remission of our sins and offer ourselves 
as a living sacrifice unto the Lord and pray 
that we may be worthy partakers of the 
Body and Blood of Christ. 
Of these five portions the present English 
Prayer Book has only the first two at this 
place in the service. The third is entirely 
lacking, and of the fourth only a single 
phrase is incorporated in the first part, 
while the fifth part is placed as an alternate 
prayer in the Post-Communion. 



THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 2/1 

(v) Communion Hymn. In some of the liturgies 
after consecration, a hymn is sung, and in 
the service used in England before the Refor- 
mation, this hymn was the Agnus Dei (" O 
Lamb of God that takest away the sins of the 
world " ), which is still used in this place in 
the Roman service. 
(vi) The Words of Delivery. The rubric immedi- 
ately preceding this requires that all should 
receive the elements in both kinds, that is, 
both the bread and the wine. In the Middle 
Ages and in the present Roman Church only 
the celebrating priest receives the consecrated 
wine. One of the important changes in the 
first English service was the restoration of the 
cup to the laity. 

These words of delivery are first found in the 
English Order of Communion, 1548, and were 
as follows, — " The Body of our Lord Jesus 
Christ which was given for thee, preserve thy 
body unto everlasting life," and " The Blood 
of our Lord Jesus Christ, which was shed for 
thee, preserve thy soul unto everlasting Hfe." 
In the first Prayer Book of 1549 the words 
" and soul " were inserted after ♦' body " in the 
first of these forms and the words " body and " 
were inserted in the second form before 
" soul." 

In 1552 both these forms were dropped and the 
last half of each form as we now have it was 
used ; that is, for the bread, " take eat," etc., 
and for the cup, " drink this," etc. 

In 1559 the forms of 1549 and 1552 were 
united, giving us the present form. 
(r) Post-Communion. After all have received, what 

remains of the consecrated elements is placed 

on the Lord's Table and covered with a fair 



272 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHERS MANUAL 

linen cloth ; then the Post-Communion begins 
with 
(i) The Lord's Prayer. This now has a doxology 
at the end as the service from this point is a 
thanksgiving. In the first EngHsh Book the 
Lord's Prayer immediately followed the Con- 
secrating Prayer, which was its usual place 
in the old hturgies. 
(ii) The Post-Communion Thanksgiving. The 
name generally given to the prayer which 
follows the Lord's Prayer. Such a prayer of 
thanksgiving was almost universal in the old 
liturgies. 
(iii) The Gloria in Excelsis. In the first English 
Book and in the older Latin and present 
Roman service, this hymn is appointed to be 
sung at the beginning of the office before the 
Collect for the Day. A hymn of thanksgiv- 
ing after the Communion is frequently found 
in the old liturgies. Instead of the Gloria in 
Excelsis may be substituted a proper hymn, 
(iv) The Blessing or Benediction. The early Greek 
and Oriental rites provided a final benediction, 
but it is a comparatively modern usage in the 
Church of Rome. It v/as introduced into the 
first English Prayer Book. The form is com- 
posed of two parts : 
The Pax, or " The peace of God," etc. 
The Blessing. Beginning " The Blessing of 
God Almighty," etc. 
Collects at the end of the service.— The collects at the 
end of the service are to be used at the discretion of the 
minister after the collects of Morning or Evening Prayer or 
Communion. It was a common practice to have such a 
collection at the end of the office in the old Latin Sacra- 
mentaries. The first of these prayers can be traced to 
the Gelasian Sacramentary, the third to the Sacramentary 



THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 2/3 

of Gregory, while the second, fourth and fifth were com- 
posed in 1549. 

The rubrics after the collects.— The first rubric after 
these collects requires the Ante- Communion to be said 
on all Sundays and Holy Days ; while the second directs 
that what remains of the consecrated elements shall not be 
carried from the Church but be consumed by the minister 
and other communicants. One of the two exhortations 
which foUow, or so much of it as the minister may think 
convenient, is to be used when notice of the Communion 
is given. The second form being more urgent, is to be 
used when the people are negligent about coming to the 
Holy Communion. 

In the English Book there are rubrics at the end of the 
service concerning the number who are to communicate, 
the frequency of Communion, and the character of the 
bread and wine ; also a statement in regard to the mean- 
ing of kneeling at the reception. This last is sometimes 
called the Black Rubric. 

IV. The Services for the Sacrament of Baptism 

TOGETHER WITH THE CATECHISM AND OFFICE 

FOR Confirmation 

History.— Holy Baptism like Holy Communion was 
instituted by Christ Himself and the essentials of this 
sacrament are those prescribed by Him ; viz., the use of 
water and the form of words He commanded. 

In the early Church. — There are many accounts of 
this sacrament in the early Christian writers, beginning 
with Justin Martyr about 150 a. d. In the course of 
time, many ceremonies were added, such as the use of 
chrism and salt and lighted candles, etc. In the early 
Church when those who were to be baptised were mainly 
converts from heathendom, the baptism was preceded by 
a course of instruction {catechesis) and the first part of 
the service was later called " the making of a Catechu- 
men." 



2/4 '^HE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER S MANUAL 

In mediaeval times. — In mediaeval times the whole 
service fell into three divisions : 

The making of a Catechumen. 

The blessing of the font. 

The actual baptism. 

The first took place at the church door. The second 
was not used at every service but only when the water in 
the font had to be changed. Easter Eve was the great 
day for Baptism (note the appropriateness to Baptism of 
the collect for that day). 

(I) BAPTISM 

In our Prayer Book there are three services for Bap- 
tism and one for the reception of persons privately bap- 
tised. This latter is printed as a part of the service for 
private baptism of children, beginning at the middle of 
page 252. 

(i) Baptism of Infants. — Our service combines parts 
of the mediaeval services, and may be divided into four 
portions : 

(a) The Introduction.— From the beginning to the 
end of the collect, " Almighty and everlasting God, 
heavenly Father," etc. This corresponds to the old serv- 
ice for the Making of a Catechumen. The first rubric 
after the title shows it is desirable that this sacrament 
should be administered in the presence of the congrega- 
tion of Christ's Church into which the child is to be ad- 
mitted. The second rubric provides for god-parents or 
sponsors who are to answer for the infant. The third 
rubric requires that notice be given to the minister before- 
hand in order that he may make proper inquiries and prep- 
arations. It also prescribes at what point in the daily 
service this baptismal service is to be introduced. The 
strict interpretation of the last sentence of this rubric re- 
quires that the water should not be put into the font until 
just before the beginning of the service. 

(i) T/ie address " Dearly beloved^' etc. The address, 



THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 2/5 

" Dearly beloved," etc., is taken from a German form of 
baptism found in the so-called Consultation of Hermann, 
Archbishop of Cologne, from which several other parts 
of this service were taken by Cranmer in forming the 
Enghsh service, as is noted below. 

(ii) The Collects. The first is from the German and 
was set forth by Luther in 1523. The second is from the 
Sarum service. It will be noted from the rubric at the 
beginning of the office that the people are to stand dur- 
ing these prayers. The American Book allows the omis- 
sion of all that follows to the questions, provided the en- 
tire service be said once at least in every month, if there 
be a baptism. This omission is not allowed in the Eng- 
lish service. 

(iii) The Gospel. The Gospel is the one used in the 
German office and replaces that of the Sarum service, 
which was the parallel account in St. Matthew (St. Matt. 
19:13-15). 

(iv) The address on the Gospel. Also taken from the 
German. 

(v) The Prayer y ^'Almighty and everlastifig God,'* etc. 
This Prayer is from the same source and is to be said 
by all the congregation as is indicated by the liturgical 
printing. The people are to stand at the saying of this 
prayer. 

(b) The Immediate Preparation : 

(i) The Address to the god-parents. This was com- 
posed in 1549 and resembles one found in the German. 

(ii) The Renu7iciations. This is one of the earliest 
parts of the service. In the ancient Church the renunci- 
ations were made while turning to the west, the place of 
darkness, and then the candidates turned to the east, the 
place of light, and made their profession. 

(iii) The Profession of Faith. The earliest form of 
this profession was the original of our creeds, and the 
creed was first used in the Baptismal Office. The Ameri- 
can Church unfortunately does not require the repe- 



276 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHEr's MANUAL 

tition of the creed as does the EngUsh and nearly all 
others. 

(iv) The Blessing of the Font. The four short prayers 
beginning •* O merciful God," etc., and the longer one 
beginning ** Almighty ever-living God," etc., are taken 
from the old Latin service for the blessing of the font. 

{c) The Baptism.— Into the name of the Holy Trinity 
by immersion or pouring. The name given to the child 
at this time is called his Christian name because it is 
given him when he is made a Christian, and is to be dis- 
tinguished from the surname or family name which he 
inherits from his parents. 

The Reception. The reception begins with " We re- 
ceive this child," etc., and was introduced into the Eng- 
lish Book at this place in 1552. The sign of the Cross 
may be, but seldom is, omitted. 

(d^ Post-Baptismal Service : 

(1) The Exhortatio7t to the congregation. The exhor- 
tation to the congregation states what has been done for 
the child in baptism and asks their prayers which begin 
with 

(ii) The Lord's Prayer. All kneel; and this is fol- 
lowed by 

(iii) The Thanksgiving. The service closes with the 

(iv) Two Exhortations to the god-parents. These re- 
mind them of their duties toward the child. 

The second of our baptismal services is the one for 

(2) Private Baptism of Children in Houses. — This 
is to be used only in case the child is in danger of dying, 
and so a short service is provided retaining little but the 
essentials. This service is to be completed if the child 
lives by the service of 

(3) Reception. — To be used in the Church. As this 
is a separate service, it should have a title of its own, but 
is here printed as a part of the service of Private Baptism. 
At the end of this service, a form is provided for the bap- 



THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 2/7 

tism of those concerning whom there is a doubt as to the 
validity of their former baptism. This form is sometimes 
called Hypothetical Baptism. 

The final service of Baptism is the one entitled 

(4) The Ministration of Baptism to Such as Are of 
Riper Years, and Able to Answer for Themselves. — 
This service was compiled in 1661 after the Common- 
wealth period, during which this sacrament had been 
much neglected and it was designed also for use in bap- 
tising the converts from heathendom. 

It follows the order of Infant Baptism in general. The 
candidates are to prepare themselves by Prayer and Fast- 
ing. They make their own renunciation and profession 
and the minister addresses them directly instead of the 
god-parents. A different Gospel is also used. The rubrics 
at the end provide for the Confirmation and Holy Com- 
munion as soon after Baptism as conveniently may be, 
and the form of Hypothetical Baptism is repeated. 

(II) THE CATECHISM 

This is treated elsewhere in this manual. Liturgically 
it is to be compared to the instruction given in the early 
Church to the Catechumens while preparing for Baptism. 

(III) CONFIRMATION 

The Catechism, Baptism and Confirmation were very 
closely connected in the early Church. The Catechism 
represents the instruction given to the candidates imme- 
diately before baptism, and the confirmation is the gift 
of the Holy Spirit immediately following the baptism. 

The selection and preparation of candidates were care- 
fully made. The forty days of Lent were spent in special 
exercises and testing of the candidates. Their final prep- 
aration was made on the Thursday of Holy Week; they 
fasted on Good Friday, and on Easter Eve presented 
themselves to the Bishop for baptism. The Bishop 
blessed the holy oils and the water ; and the candidates, 



278 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER's MANUAL 

finally renouncing the devil and professing their faith, 
descended into the water and were baptised by triple 
immersion. As soon as they came up, the Bishop 
anointed them with the holy chrism, signed them with 
the sign of the Cross, and laid his hand upon them. 
They then passed at once to the altar and received their 
first Communion. 

As the Church grew and spread rapidly, it was not pos- 
sible for the Bishop to be present at all baptisms, so the 
service of Confirmation or Holy Chrism in the Greek 
Church was delegated to the priest who used the chrism 
blessed by the Bishop ; while m the West the two services 
were separated and Confirmation, or the Laying on of 
Hands, was postponed until the Bishop could visit the 
Church. In this way Confirmation became detached 
from Baptism and formed a separate rite, beginning with 
versicles and the old prayer for the sevenfold gift of the 
Holy Ghost, said by the Bishop with hands stretched 
out over the candidate. Then he anointed each, and 
the service closed with a Psalm, versicles, prayers and a 
blessing. This order was continued in the first English 
Book, but the use of chrism was omitted and the Bishop 
laid his hands on each candidate. The collect " Almighty 
and ever-living God, who makest us," etc., was added from 
the Consultation of Hermann. Until 1661 this service was 
printed in connection with the Catechism ; then it was 
given its present title and a preface placed at the begin- 
ning, " To the end that Confirmation," etc. The Bishop 
demanded a personal acknowledgment of the Baptismal 
Vow, and the Lord's Prayer was inserted after the impo-, 
sition of hands, while the collect, " O Almighty Lord, 
and everlasting God," etc., was added immediately before 
the blessing. The service in this form was adopted by 
our Church in 1789. 

At our last revision, it was brought into its present 
shape by inserting after the preface for presenting the 
candidate a lesson from the Acts of the Apostles, describ- 



THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 2/9 

ing the Confirmation at Samaria. The two aspects of 
Confirmation are to be distinguished in this service. The 
candidate confirms and ratifies the vow made in his name 
at Baptism ; while on the other hand, he is confirmed by 
the Holy Spirit as may be seen in the prayer beginning, 
•* Almighty and ever-hving God," etc., where occur these 
words, •' Strengthen [that is, confirm] them, we beseech 
Thee, O Lord, with the Holy Ghost, the Comforter " (that 
is, the Confirmer). 

V. The Occasional Services* 

(i) Form of Solemnisation of Matrimony. — The es- 
sential part of marriage is the mutual consent of bride- 
groom and bride, but in the marriage of Christians from 
the earhest days of the Church, the blessing of the Church 
by its appointed ministers was added to this consent 
given in the face of the congregation. This is what is 
meant by the solemnisatio7i of matrimony. In the 
course of time various significant ceremonies of Jewish 
or pagan origin were added, such as the veihng of the 
bride, the ring, crowning the bridegroom and bride, etc. 
In the mediaeval times there were two distinct services : 
first, that of the espousals, or engagement; and secondly, 
that of the marriage or nuptials. The latter was fol- 
lowed by the nuptial mass, during which the priest pro- 
nounced the nuptial blessing over the bridegroom and' 
bride. These two services are still kept distinct in some 
parts of the Church ; for example, the Eastern Church. 
In 1549 this office was taken with little change from that 
in the Sarum Manual. Some parts, especially the ex- 
hortation, were based on Hermann's Consultation. The 
newly married couple were to receive the Holy Com- 
munion and nuptial blessing after the marriage proper. 
In 1661 the reception of the Holy Communion was not 
made obligatory. The service in our book was taken in 

^ Owing to lack of space, these will be treated very briefly. 



28o THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHEr's MANUAL 

1789 from the English Book, but was somewhat short- 
ened by omitting part of the exhortation and all that fol- 
lows the blessing and making no reference to or provi- 
sion for the Holy Communion. Several of the rubrics 
were also altered, and at our last revision, 1892, a clause 
in the first address was restored from the English Book. 

Our service naturally falls into two parts, the first, cor- 
responding to the old espousal, from the beginning to 
" Who giveth this Woman," etc., and the second corre- 
sponding to the old nuptials, from this point to the end. 
At the end of the first portion, the parties , often go to 
the altar-rail for the actual marriage. In the English 
Church this change of place usually occurs just before the 
Psalm, which is used as an introit and follows the bless- 
ing of our book. 

(2) The Order for the Visitation of the Sick.— This 
service is best used as an introduction to the administra- 
tion of the Holy Communion to the sick, and is based on 
a similar office in the Sarum Manual, which v^^as the first 
of a series of services, including those of Extreme 
Unction (in which was included the Communion of the 
Sick by means of the reserved sacrament) the Office for 
the Commendation of the Soul of the Dying, and finally 
the Burial Office. 

As the priest proceeded to the house of the sick man, 
the seven penitential Psalms were sung ending with the 
antiphon, " Remember not, Lord, our iniquities," etc., and 
on entering the house, the priest said, '' Peace be to this 
house, and to all that dwell therein. Peace be to those 
that go in and to those that go forth." The present Eng- 
lish service omits all mention of Extreme Unction but 
otherwise contains the substance of the old services. This 
is the only service in our book which contains the interrog- 
ative creed while the English Book has this form of creed 
also in the Office of Baptism. The American Book omits 
the direction concerning a special confession and a form 
of absolution of the sick as given in the Sarum and Eng- 



THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 28 1 

lish Books, viz., " I absolve thee," etc. Bishop White in 
a letter to Bishop Brownell says this form was omitted 
" from the persuasion that it is not agreeable to the prac- 
tice of the Church in the best ages." In the American 
Book, Psalm 1 30 was substituted for Psalm 31 of the 
English Book. The prayers at the end of the office are 
taken from the English Book. 

(3) Communion of the Sick. — The communion of the 
sick in pre-Reformation times was a very simple matter 
and was administered by the reserved sacrament during 
the service of Extreme Unction. In 1549 the reserva- 
tion of the sacrament for the purpose of administration to 
the sick was retained, provided there was a celebration of 
the Holy Communion in the Church on that day, at 
which the priest might reserve so much of the consecrated 
elements as should serve the sick person and his friends. 
At the time of administration were to be said the General 
Confession, Absolution, Comfortable Words, following 
which was the reception of the sacrament, and the serv- 
ice closed with the Post-Communion Thanksgiving; but 
if there were no Communion Service in the Church on 
that day, the priest was provided with a short form of 
celebration (much like that in our book), to be used in 
the sick man's house. 

In 1552 there is no mention of reservation and the 
rubric directs the priest to use the whole service with 
special Epistle and Gospel in the sick man's house. 

In 1662 provision was made for shortening the serv- 
ice. Our service was taken in 1789 from this English 
service of 1662. At the last revision of our service, a 
provision was made for a very short form in case of 
necessity and also allows the use of this office with such as 
are not able to attend the public ministration in the 
Church, substituting the Collect, Epistle and Gospel for 
the Day for those appointed in this office. 

(4) The Order for the Burial of the Dead.— The 
Church does not cease her services to her members with 



282 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER'S MANUAL 

their death but follows the tenantless body to its final 
resting-place with Psalms and prayers. In the mediaeval 
Church, the services connected with the burial of the dead 
were long and elaborate. They began with the Service 
of Commendation in the house while the body was made 
ready for burial ; with the singing of Psalms, the body 
was carried to the Church where the Burial Service be- 
gan with the Office of the Dead (Evensong, Matins and 
Lauds). Then followed the Requiem Mass and a short 
form of Commendation and finally the actual buj-ial 
service or Interment. After the burial, memorial serv- 
ices were held particularly during the following month 
and on the anniversary. 

In 1549 this series of services was much shortened and 
there were retained the following : — 

The Procession to the Church or Grave. 

The Service for Actual Burial. 

A brief form of the Office for the Dead. 

A special Eucharist with an appropriate introit, Col- 
lect, Epistle and Gospel. 

In 1552 the office was put substantially in its present 
form, except there was no provision for a Psalm and the 
Lesson was to be read after the committal of the body to 
the ground, following, " I heard a voice," etc. 

In 1662 the Psalms and Lesson were put in their pres- 
ent places. In the first American Book the service was 
that of the Enghsh Book with slight changes. Instead 
of using the whole of the two Psalms 39 and 90, a selec- 
tion was made from them and a phrase from the prayer, 
" O merciful God/' etc., was omitted. At our last revi- 
sion a provision was made after the Lesson for a Hymn 
or Anthem, the Creed, and *' such fitting prayers as are 
elsewhere provided in this book." 

The Lesser Litany was restored and three additional 
prayers were placed at the end. A rubric provided that 
the whole service may " for weighty cause," be said in 
the Church and the form of committal " At the Burial of 



THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 283 

the Dead at Sea " was transferred from the Forms of 
Prayer to be Used at Sea to the end of this office. 

(5) The Thanksgiving of Women after Childbirth ; 
commonly called, The Churching of Women. — This 
service is taken from the service of the English Prayer 
Book, which is based on the early services. Probably the 
idea of such a service was borrowed from the Jewish ob- 
servance, involving the double idea of purification and 
thanksgiving, and the word purification was used in the 
title of this office in 1549. The service is seldom used, 
and for that reason the prayer of thanksgiving from the 
same is placed among the special thanksgiving to be 
used instead of the regular service. 

(6) Forms of Prayer to be Used at Sea. — These 
forms are taken with some changes from those in the 
English Prayer Book where they first appear in 1662. 
They are to be used as occasion may require in addition 
to the regular Morning and Evening Prayer on board 
ships. In our last revision, considerable change was 
made in the order of the parts of the service. 

(7) A Form of Prayer for the Visitation of 
Prisoners. — This is not in the English Prayer Book but 
was taken from a form used in the Irish Church in the 
early part of the eighteenth century, and in America ap- 
pears first in the Proposed Book of 1785- 1 786, from 
which it was transferred to the first authorised American 
Book of 1789. 

(8) A Form of Prayer and Thanksgiving to Al- 
mighty God.— For the fruits of the earth, and all other 
blessings of His merciful Providence ; to be used yearly 
on the first Thursday in November, or on such other 
day as shall be appointed by civil authority. This serv- 
ice was prepared for the Proposed Book of 1785- 1786 
and was taken into our Prayer Book in 1789. It has no 
counterpart in the English Prayer Book. 

(9) Forms of Prayer to be used in Families. — 
These are taken from similar services prepared by Bishop 



284 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER's MANUAL 

Gibson of London and seem to have been used in 
America before the Revolution. 

Chronological Table 

A. D. 

34. Christian worship estabhshed (Acts 2 : 42). 

50-325. Times of persecution. 

350-450. Age of the Eastern and Greek liturgies. 

450. Leo the Great (Leonine Sacramentary). 

460. Rogation Days established by Mamertus, 

Bishop of Vienne. 

492. Sacramentary of Gelasius. 

590. Sacramentary of Gregory the Great. 

597. St. Augustine in England. 

1085. The Use of Sarum. 

1 350-1450. English Primers. 

1 5 31. Reformed Sarum Breviary and Missal. 

1535-45. Reformed English Primers. 

1542. Sarum use ordered in the province of 

Canterbury. 

1544. English Litany. 

1547. Hermann's Consultation in English. 

1548. Order of Communion in English. 

1549. Whitsunday. First EngUsh Prayer Book 

came into use. 

1552. Second English Prayer Book. 

1553. Death of Edward VI. Prayer Book sup- 

pressed. 
1558. Accession of Queen EHzabeth. 
1559- Queen Elizabeth Prayer Book published. 
1604. Hampton Court Conference and the fourth 

edition of the Prayer Book. 
1645. Prayer Book suppressed by the Long 

Parliament. 

1660. Restoration of Charles II, 

1661. Savoy Conference on the Prayer Book. 

1662. Present English Prayer Book came into use. 



THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 285 

1689. Attempted revision of the English Prayer 
Book unsuccessful. 

1785. Proposed Book prepared by the Conven- 

tion in Philadelphia. 

1786. Bishop Seabury's Communion Office. 

1789. First American Prayer Book, authorised 

by the General Convention. 

1790. First American Prayer Book came into 

use. 
1790: 1793: 1822: 1832: 1838: 1845: 1871. Standard 
editions of the Prayer Book. 
1792. Ordinal established by the General Conven- 
tion. 
1799. Office for the consecration of a Church or 

Chapel adopted. 
1 80 1. Thirty-nine Articles adopted. 
1804. Office of Induction. 

181 1. Office of Induction changed to Office of 
Institution. 
1853-59. Memorial movement. 
1880-92. Thorough revision of the Prayer Book. 
1892. Present Standard Book adopted. 



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286 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER's MANUAL 

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Annotated Scottish Communion Office. Historical account of the 

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the Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States of 

America. Dowden. R. Grant & Son. Edinburgh . . 
The Collects for Sundays and Holy Days. 2 vols. Goulburn. 

Longmans, Green & Co 5.(X) 

The Harmony of the Collects, Epistles and Gospels. Scott. 

Gorham . • 1.50 

♦The Holy Communion. Stone. Oxford Library of Practical 

Theology. Longmans, Green & Co Net 1.40 

* Holy Baptism. Stone. Oxford Library of Practical Theology. 

Longmans, Green & Co. Net 1.40 

* Confirmation. Hall. Oxford Library of Practical Theology. 

Longmans, Green & Co Net I.40 

The Christian Marriage Ceremony. Bingham. Dutton & Co. Net 2.00 



288 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER's MANUAL 

* Anointing of the Sick in Scripture and Tradition. Puller. 

Gorham Net 1. 50 

Ecclesiastical Vestments : Their Development and History. Mac- 
alister. From the Camden Library series. Elliot Stock. 
London 2.00 

* The Principles of Religious Ceremonial. Frere. Oxford Library 

of Practical Theology. Longmans, Green & Co Net 1.40 



VIII 

THE CREEDS 

BY THE 

Rev. William M. Groton, S. T. D. 

Dean of the Divinity School in Philadelphia 



VIII 

THE CREEDS 

There are two Creeds only, the Apostles' and the 
Nicene, which are acknowledged by our Branch of the 
Church CathoHc.^ These with the Athanasian Creed 
are accepted as fundamental by the Roman, English and 
Lutheran Communions. One Creed, the Nicene, with 
the exclusion of the words " and the Son " [filioque) in 
the phrase, " Who proceedeth from the Father and the 
Son," is received by the Eastern Church ; the Apostles' 
Creed is unknown officially to the Eastern Church, and 
the Athanasian Creed has recognition within her pale 
only in manuals of doctrine. 

I. The Apostles' Creed 

The Apostles' Creed grew out of the baptismal formula 
" in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the 
Holy Ghost." It was natural that the person who ad- 
ministered baptism should desire to have the recipient of 
the baptism know what these words imply. It was natural 
that the person, also, who received the baptism should 
desire some instruction concerning them. Consequently 
a body of teaching, expressed in the form of a Confession, 
would gather about them, following their order and intro- 
ducing leading tenets belonging to each. Further, the 
existence of heretical ideas and the need of protection 
against them would aid in stimulating such creedal de- 
velopment. 

* Articles of Religion — Article VIII, 



292 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHERS MANUAL 

(i) When did this body of baptismal instruction as- 
sume its creedal form ? — The question has received sev- 
eral answers. 

(a) The first answer. Some competent scholars, 
such as Caspari, Zahn, Loofs and Sanday, beHeve that 
its beginning Hes back in the time of the Apostles, or 
close to it. Zahn himself sees in i St. Timothy 6: 12 
evidence of the existence of an older form of the Apos- 
tles' Creed; while Loofs, referring us to i St. Timothy 
6 : 12 and 2 St. Timothy 4:1, sees in the passages allu- 
sions to a Creed, but regards the evidence as uncertain. 
This older form, it is supposed, contained tv/o references, 
one to the Davidic descent of Jesus, the other to the 
baptism by John the Baptist. But, about the beginning 
of the second century (100 a. d. ), the Creed suffered revi- 
sion, when these references were omitted. Early in this 
century it had become the Creed of the Church in Pales- 
tine and in Asia Minor, and in 130 a. d., or a Httle later, 
was carried from Ephesus to Rome and became the 
Creed of the Western Church also. It remained in 
Rome for several centuries, mainly, if not quite, in the 
form it had before its arrival there. 

In the meantime this Creed experienced in the East, 
its original home, a development. The Eastern Chris- 
tians, unHke their brethren in the West, were fond of 
metaphysics. They were not satisfied with simple state- 
ments. Consequently they analysed them and expressed 
their conclusions in various formulas such as " God of 
God," •' Light of Light," " Being of One Substance with 
the Father," and the hke. These formulas were incor- 
porated, as useful, in the Creed until finally it took the 
expanded form of the Nicene Creed. Consequently the 
Apostles' Creed in the West, and the Nicene Creed in 
the East, bear to each other the relationship of sisters. 

(b) The second anszuer. Other competent scholars, 
such as Harnack, Kattenbusch in Germany, and Burn in 
England, affirm that the Apostles' Creed grew up out of 



THE CREEDS 293 

the baptismal formula, wholly in Rome, early in the 
second century and consequently is absolutely a Western 
production. Kattenbusch dates it at the beginning of 
the second century or earlier, while Harnack dates it 
about 140 A. D. Again, Kattenbusch thinks that it was 
very soon introduced into Asia Minor by Polycarp on 
the occasion of his second visit to Rome. But Harnack 
places its introduction into the Asian Church about 272 
A. D. A dispute concerning the moment and nature of 
Christ's incarnation had arisen between the orthodox 
party and Paul of Samosata. The Emperor Aurelian en- 
tered into the dispute, not because he cared for the relig- 
ious side of it, but because he dreaded division of any 
sort in his Empire. In order to suppress the quarrel, and 
also Paul of Samosata, he had the Creed of the Church 
of Rome read in the Synod where the dispute had be- 
come strenuous. The Eastern Christians, as soon as they 
heard the Creed, were captivated by it and subsequently 
used it as a form on which to drape their theological for- 
mulas. Out of this use of it the Nicene Creed arose in 
the course of fifty years. So Harnack. If we accept this 
view, the relation of the Apostles' Creed to the Nicene 
Creed is that of mother to daughter. 

(r) The third answer. Other competent scholars, 
such as Kriiger in Germany, and McGiffert in America, 
also place the origin of the Apostles' Creed in Rome. 
They beHeve that it arose in the strife with the heresy of 
Marcion, which broke out in Rome 145-150 a. d. It 
was a dangerous heresy and was advocated with great 
power. The mere baptismal formula was not sufficient 
to stem it. A Creed was needed and so the Apostles' 
Creed sprang into being about the year 150 A. d. One 
may answer that a Creed formed and accepted in so brief 
a time would have been a glaring novelty. But Kriiger 
replies that the orthodox Roman priests might have had 
no more sense of novelty than the Nicene Fathers had in 
the introduction of the Nicene Creed, as authoritative. 



294 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHERS MANUAL 

Kriiger, however, is more cautious than McGiffert. He rec- 
ognises that this theory of the origin of the Creed is un- 
certain because (i) it rests on the weak argument from 
silence concerning the Creed in the writings of the fathers 
before 150 A. d., and (2) there is no documentary proof 
that a Creed was formed in a contest with the heresy of 
Marcion. 

However, the first answer has the majority of creedal 
investigators as its adherents. 

(2) Difficulty in tracing history. — The difficulty in 
tracing the very early history of the Apostles' Creed is 
that it is not quoted at length, in precise terms, until a 
comparatively late period. The Creed was treasured in 
secret. It was learned directly from the lips of the 
teacher and was then carried in the memory. It was 
thus a watchword (Symbol) by which the Christian made 
himself known to the Christian community to which he 
was a stranger. Consequently it was particularly helpful, 
as a test, when governmental espionage was on the alert 
to detect or to ferret out Christians as enemies to the 
Commonwealth. This use of it, as a secret watchword 
among Christians, excluded the Creed from early Chris- 
tian writings. However, the larger number of students 
of the Creed are positive that they discover in these writ- 
ings indications of the existence of this Creed. 

Thus the Apostles' Creed was repeated by Christians 
as a baptismal Creed almost at the outset of Christian his- 
tory. 

(3) What was its form ? — Possibly this : " I believe 
in God (the Father) Almighty, And in Christ Jesus, our 
Lord ; Who was born of the Holy Ghost and the Virgin 
Mary ; Was crucified under Pontius Pilate, and buried ; 
The third day He rose again from the dead; He as- 
cended into Heaven ; Sitteth at the right hand of the 
Father ; Thence He shall come to judge the quick and the 
dead ; And in the Holy Ghost ; The Holy Church ; The 
forgiveness of sins; The resurrection of the flesh." 



THE CREEDS 295 

(4) Omissions. — Observe that it lacks nine phrases 
and terms, which our present Apostles' Creed contains ; 
viz., " Maker of heaven and earth," " Who was con- 
ceived," ♦' suffered," " dead," " He descended into hell," 
" God " and " Almighty," *• Catholic," " Communion of 
Saints," " the Life Everlasting." 

These amplifications were incorporated in the original 
Creed, according to some, in Rome ; according to others, 
in Southern Gaul (France) ; and according to others, as 
it was carried by missionaries from Remesiana, north- 
ward beyond the Alps, then down into the great plains 
of Gaul. Lack of space precludes the examination of the 
obscure history of these additions.^ It is enough here 
to say, what all students of the Creed affirm, that these 
added clauses and terms in no wise changed the original 
meaning of the Creed, and that they were already per- 
manently in place by the beginning of the eighth century. 

II. The Nicene Creed 

In the middle of the sixth century the Apostles' 
Creed was displaced in Rome by the Nicene Creed. Burn 
denies this. At any rate, the Nicene Creed became pre- 
eminent there. This may have been due to Eastern im- 
perial influence which at this time was strong in Rome, 
or to the desire to erect a stouter barrier against the 
Arian (Unitarian) ideas of God which the Gothic invad- 
ers were at this moment introducing into the Roman 
world. 

The two theories of the origin of the Nicene Creed, 
both representing it as springing from the Apostles' 
Creed, have been mentioned. The conception of its 
history after the Nicene Council (325) has taken, within 
a few years, two forms : one, the traditional ; the other, 
the modern. 

* The various views concerning them may be found in the books of ref- 
erence. 



296 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER's MANUAL 

(i) The traditional theory of its origin. — Our 
Nicene Creed was adopted first at the Nicene Council. 
On its adoption it ended with the words, " And I believe 
in the Holy Ghost." It was reaffirmed in the second 
Ecumenical Council, held at Constantinople in 381, 
when the sentences following the confession, " I believe 
in the Holy Ghost," were added. In both of the later 
Ecumenical Councils, held respectively at Ephesus (431) 
and Chalcedon (451), it was again reaffirmed and then 
came into universal use. 

(2) The modern view.— Our Nicene Creed, strictly 
speaking, is not the Creed framed at the Nicene Council. 
It is the ampUfication of the old Creed of the Church in 
Jerusalem. Cyril, the Bishop of Jerusalem (350-381), 
had taken the Creed of his Church, enlarged it with sen- 
tences from the Creed adopted at Nicea and, for polem- 
ical reasons, had incorporated new sentences in the article 
concerning the Holy Ghost. When the Council of Con- 
stantinople was held in 381 a. d., Cyril was present. 
Inasmuch as he was suspected of heresy, he read his own 
Creed in the Council, as proof of his soundness in the 
Faith, and the Creed was thereupon received and placed 
in the archives of the Council. From this a German 
scholar, Kuntze, dissents, declaring that the newly 
elected Bishop of Constantinople, Nectarius, introduced it 
into the Council, as his Confession of faith. Nectarius 
had received it as his Baptismal Creed from Diodorus, 
the Bishop of Tarsus, who had obtained it from Jerusa- 
lem through Cyprus. But whoever introduced it, this 
Creed became associated with the Council and was subse- 
quently adopted, at least by the Imperial Court, as the 
customary Creed. What became of it ? Did it go out- 
side of Constantinople ? Very likely. But when the 
Council of Ephesus was held, fifty years later, it did not 
appear there, except that some of its language was 
quoted, to the perplexity of Cyril, the Bishop of Alex- 
andria, as the words of the Nicene Fathers. Twenty 



THE CREEDS 29/ 

years later, at the Council of Chalcedon, it was recited 
in conjunction with the old Nicene Creed. The latter 
was endorsed with great enthusiasm, the former with less 
ardour. But both received the positive recognition of 
the Council. Subsequently, nearly a century later, the 
Creed of the Church of Jerusalem had fully supplanted 
that of Nicea and had become the Creed of the Univer- 
sal Church. It rightly bears the name, the Nicene 
Creed, because it contains the more important clauses of 
the older form, and teaches exactly the same doctrine. 
It would be impressive if it should be finally and con- 
clusively proven that the Creed embodied in the Order 
for the Administration of the Lord's Supper had its 
origin in the city where Christ was crucified and rose 
again. 

III. The Athanasian Creed 

The Athanasian Creed was so called because Athana- 
sius was supposed to be its author. Its Athanasian 
authorship is now generally denied, even on the Roman 
Catholic side. Its origin is still undetermined. At first 
it was used as a syllabus for the instruction of the 
Clergy ; later as a psalm ; and then it attained the charac- 
ter of a Creed before the end of the twelfth century. 



Books for Reference 

The Apostles' Creed. Zahn 

The Apostles' Creed. Harnack. Macmillan Co Net .80 

The Nineteenth Century for 1893 

The Apostles' Creed. Swete. Macmillan Co Net i.oo 

Journal of Theological Studies for 1893. Sanday 

The Apostles' Creed. Burn. Oxford Church Text Books. 

Gorham Net .35 

The Apostles' Creed. McGififert. Scribner Net 1.25 

The Apostles' Creed. Mortimer. Longmans Net 1. 80 

History of the Creeds. Lumby 

An Introduction to the Creeds. Burn. Methuen. London . . . 10/6 

Niceta of Remesiana. Burn. Macmillan Co Net 3.00 



298 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER'S MANUAL 

Two Dissertations. Hort. Macmillan Co. London 7/6 

The Nicene and Apostles' Creeds. Swainson. Murray. London 16/ 
A Critical History of the Athanasian Creed. Waterland. S. P. C. K. 

London , . 17/ 

A Critical Dissertation on the Athanasian Creed. Ommaney. 

Oxford University Press Net 4.00 

The History and Use of Creeds and Anathemas in the Early 

Centuries of the Church. Turner. London. S. P. C. K. . . 



IX 

THE THEOLOGY OF THE CATECHISM 

BY THE 

Rev. Richard W. Micou, M. A., D. D. 

Professor of Systematic Divinity and Apologetics in the Protestant 
Episcopal Theological Seminary in Virginia 



IX 

THE THEOLOGY OF THE CATECHISM 

Christian Theology. — Christian theology is the science 
of God and man in their mutual relations as Creator and 
creature, Father and child, as these relations are made 
known in the self-revelation of God progressively through 
the prophets and finally in Jesus Christ, the Incarnate 
Son of God. 

Religion. — Religion is the life of faith and trust in 
God as Father, Redeemer and Sanctifier, the soul's con- 
sciousness of its experience of God's dealings vv^ith it and 
the world. Its expression is love, obedience and wor- 
ship. But the Christian thinker cannot rest content in 
the realm of pure feeHng ; he must know what he be- 
lieves. Theology is the outcome of this impulse to 
think faith out in terms of reason, making explicit its 
implicit truths, defining and interpreting its basal facts. 

Theology proper. — Theology proper is the creation of 
Christianity. The prophets proclaimed God's unity and 
righteousness and man's duty to Him and his fellow men ; 
but with the great mass of Jews and Gentiles religion 
was a matter of ritual worship alone. Intellectual 
interest in divine truth and intelligent faith began with 
the Gospel, which not only regenerated the heart, 
reforming the character, but also illumined the mind, 
stimulating thought about God. It is the glory of 
Christianity that it appealed to the reason as well as to 
the heart. The Apostles were the first theologians, 
pondering and expounding in the light of the Spirit the 
divine truths embodied in the words and deeds of the 
Lord. The teacher stood by the prophet in the early 



302 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHERS MANUAL 

Church and the test of the inspiration of the prophet was 
his power to edify. 

Christ Himself distinguished between faith and super- 
stition when He said to the Samaritan woman, " Ye wor- 
ship ye know not what. We know what we worship." 
And in His high-priestly prayer, He tells us : " This is 
the Life Eternal, to know Thee, the only true God and 
Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent." 

Contented supercilious indifference to any thought 
about the essential elements of Christian faith is respon- 
sible for the many denials of the articles of the Creed 
within the Church to-day. 

But men really in earnest about divine things still 
crave, as of old, some definite knowledge of God, 
some intellectual basis for their religion. Multitudes of 
hungry sheep look up to their shepherds and not receiv- 
ing their portion of meat in due season, they make 
theologies for themselves out of some of the many fads and 
" isms " of the day, neglecting, not wholly through their 
own fault, the noble heritage of the Catholic Faith of all 
the centuries. The Prayer Book should be our guide in 
any attempt to state and justify the great facts and faiths 
of Christian revelation. It is intensely practical and at 
the same time intensely dogmatic. The Church en- 
shrines in her succession of Festivals and Fasts all the 
articles of the Christian Faith contained in the Apostles' 
Creed, the great verities of the Faith once delivered to 
the saints and held by all Christians, in all ages and in all 
places. 

The word Catechism. — The word Catechism is Greek 
and means oral instruction, such as was given in the early 
Church to all persons who were preparing for Baptism. 
Thus St. Luke wrote his Gospel that Theophilus might 
know the certainty of those things wherein he had been 
" catechised." The elements of this early instruction 
were identical with those of our own day. Alfred the 
Great translated into Anglo-Saxon the Apostles' Creed, 



THE THEOLOGY OF THE CATECHISM 303 

the Lord's Prayer and the Ten Commandments, and 
these together with a few Psalms and prayers, formed the 
" Primers " of the Middle Ages for the use of the Laity. 

But these simple truths really embrace all the great 
doctrines of Christianity, and as soon as we study them, 
they open up on every side into the wide field of 
Christian theology. It is simply impossible to discuss 
them all and we shall consider at length only those 
which, being commonly misunderstood, cause perplexity 
to thoughtful Christian people and give occasion of 
offence to those without the Church. 

The plan of this work limits our space, and since too 
great conciseness is at times fatal to clearness, Sunday- 
school teachers are earnestly urged to study carefully the 
Scripture references, which will explain and justify the 
position taken. 

Baptism and the Church 

" W/io gave you this name ? 

" My Sponsors in Baptism, wherein I was made a 
member of Christ, the child of God, and an inheritor 
of the kingdom of heaven." 

The question, "What isyourname?" — The question, 
" What is your name ? " is intended to teach the child that 
he is not a mere creature, a stone or an animal, but a 
spiritual being, conscious of himself who says, " I am I," 
a person like God in whose image he is created. His 
name is given him in Baptism, that he may know that he 
is God's child as well as his father's and an individual 
person, who has his own work to do and life to lead, and 
battles to fight, which none can fight for him. It also 
teaches him that God knows and cares for him as His child 
and that his only hope of true success in life is to be 
faithful to the great truths and duties signed and sealed 
to him in the Sacrament which assures him of the grace 
of the Holy Spirit. 



304 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER's MANUAL 

Baptism a divinely ordained pledge.— Baptism is the 
divinely ordained pledge to the individual of what Christ 
wrought out in His life and revealed for the race as a 
whole. It certifies that through the life and death of 
Christ redeeming all mankind, " he is made a member of 
Christ, the child of God and an inheritor of the King- 
dom of Heaven." But the three affirmations do not 
stand on the same level. Baptism, as the ordained 
initiation into a divine society, does " make " a man a 
member of Christ, z. e., of the Body of Christ, the visible 
Church ; it does not make him a child of God in the 
same sense, for that relation eternally exists between 
God, the Father of the spirits of all flesh, and the men 
who are His children as spiritual beings. But this merely 
potential sonship avails naught, till it is realised and its 
obligations recognised in Baptism and Confirmation. 
Then first we consciously become children of God. 

** I heartily thank our heavenly Father, that He hath 
called me to this state of salvation, through Jesus 
Christ our Saviour. And I pray unto God to give me 
His grace, that I may continue in the same unto my 
life's end." 

Salvation conditional. — The heirship of the Kingdom 
of Heaven is also conditional, for in the realm of spirit 
compulsion has no place. Our salvation from sin and 
growth in grace depends on our glad submission to the 
gracious influences of the Holy Spirit, who sanctifieth all 
the people of God — all who strive to follow His guidance 
and who form the household of faith. Christianity is es- 
sentially corporate in aim and spirit. " When ye pray, 
say * Our Father.' " Christ requires all who believe in 
Him openly to confess Him, and on the day of Pentecost 
the Apostles bade all who repented to be baptised, and to 
live in unity and brotherly love in' His Church (Acts 
2 : 38-42 ; Rom. 10 : 9). But though the Catechism calls 



THE THEOLOGY OF THE CATECHISM 305 

the Church, into which Baptism brings us, " a state of sal- 
vation," it warns us that it does not guarantee final perse- 
verance. We must earnestly pray that we may continue 
in it to our life's end (i Cor. 9: 27 ; Phil. 2 : 12-30). The 
exact equivalent of the phrase, •* a state of salvation," is 
found in Acts 2:47 (R. ^')> describing the Church. 
" The Lord added to them day and day such as were be- 
ing saved " — or brought into a state of salvation. The 
same expression — ♦* those being saved " — was applied by 
the prophets (in the Greek Old Testament) to the spiritual 
Israel (Isa. lo : 20 ; 37 : 32 ; 45 : 17 ; Joel 2 : 32 ; cf. Acts 
2: 21). The Church is thus identified with the faithful 
Remnant, to whom are added the Gentile believers, and 
to this spiritual Israel are transferred the promises and 
privileges of unworthy " Israel after the flesh " (Rom. 
9 : 24-28 ; Acts 28 : 26). 

The Church the elect people of God. — The Church, 
therefore, is now " the elect people of God," gathered, not 
out of one nation but out of all (St. Luke 1 3 : 29 ; St. Matt. 
24 : 22 ; Rom. 8:33;! St. Pet. 2:9; Titus 2 : 14). This 
shows that the Biblical idea of election is not a pre- 
destination from eternity of some men and women to ab- 
solute salvation, while the rest of mankind drift helpless to 
damnation, because they have not received that grace of 
God which alone can save them. In the New as in the Old 
Testament, divine election is corporate, not individual ; 
conditional, not certain, and it relates primarily not to the 
far-off world to come but to our hfe here and now. God 
works on men through men, and the Church is elected 
out of the world for the good of the world, thus fulfilling 
the promise to Abraham, that in his seed all the nations 
of the earth should be blessed. She is the Body of Christ 
called to carry on His work for men, in the spirit of His 
love and sacrifice (Col. i : 24). Individual men are elected 
by divine providence into the Church not for their own 
glory but for the service of men (St. Matt. 20:25-28). 
They share in all the privileges and promises made to the 



306 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHERS MANUAL 

Church as a whole (Rom. 8 : 28-30), but their individual 
salvation depends on their faithfulness to the duties and 
responsibilities which their election involves. The 
Church as a whole will never fall away, even as there was 
ever a remnant in unworthy Israel ; but individual mem- 
bers, as in Israel's case, may fall away in any number 
(I Cor. 10: 1-6). 

The conception of the Church as the" Elect " underlies 
the Prayer Book, though the word occurs more frequently 
in the English than in the American Book. It is to be 
regretted that our Catechism omits it in the answer, ♦♦ I 
believe in the Holy Ghost, who sanctifieth me and all the 
[elect] people of God " (cf. Collect for All Saints). 

Article XVII simply paraphrases Ephesians 1:3-11 
and Romans 8 : 28-30, and like them it speaks only of an 
election unto life. It makes no mention of the Calvinis- 
tic doctrines of a limited atonement, a foreordination to 
everlasting death, and final perseverance. In both pas- 
sages St. Paul is speaking of the Ideal Church as it exists 
in God's eternal plan, as Isaiah also did in chapter 60, 
without any thought of the individuals who may fall 
away (Collect for St. John's Day). Its closing words de- 
termine its standpoint. " Furthermore we must receive 
God's promises in the Scriptures as they be generally set 
forth " ; that is, in their relation to all men, as in the 
phrase, " Sacraments generally necessary," — universally, 
for all. " And in our doings that will of God is to be 
followed which we have expressly declared unto us, in the 
Word of God " (St. Luke 19 : 42 ; Ezek. 18 : 32 ; i St. 
Tim. 2 : 4). 

The Creed the Rule of Faith 

The Apostles' Creed. The Apostles' Creed expresses 
fairly and fully the Faith or " Tradition " which the 
Apostles preached and delivered to the Churches that 
they founded, as " the articles of the Christian faith " 



THE THEOLOGY OF THE CATECHISM 307 

(I Cor. 15:3-8; Rom. 6 : 7 ; 2 St. Tim. 4 : 7 ; St. Jude 3). 
It is an expansion of the baptismal formula, and its ear- 
liest form was interrogative, being addressed to the candi- 
dates for Baptism (Rom. 8:8-11 ; i St. Pet. 3:21-22). 
This personal note distinguishes the Creed proper from 
the long Protestant *• Confessions," such as the Westmin- 
ster, and the Thirty-nine Articles. It is a credo in, '* I be- 
lieve in " ; that is, I put my trust and faith in the one God 
revealed in Jesus Christ, Father, Son and Holy Ghost. 
This faith of trust and self-surrender in love, it should be 
our constant effort to maintain, for it profits no one to 
believe mere religious propositions, such as " there is one 
God." St. James warns us that the devils beheve that 
much — and tremble. (See " Duty to God.") 

The Nicene phrase, " only begotten Son." The Nicene 
phrase, ** only begotten Son," seems at first more signifi- 
cant than " only Son " in the Apostles' Creed, but the 
two are identical in Greek and the word itself is used of 
the widow's son and the daughter of Jairus. The empha- 
sis was thrown on the words " only begotten " to coun- 
teract the heresy of Arius, who taught that the preincar- 
nate Christ was not the true Son of God but a lower 
being, created by but not born of God. Like many 
other people, Arius took the figure of human sonship lit- 
erally and argued that a father must always exist before 
his son. The Son therefore could not be eternal. But 
the great facts of God's being can be expressed only 
most imperfectly in the language of men, under human 
analogies which must fail at some points. 

The word, son, expresses a threefold relation between 
persons : 

( 1 ) Derivation of life.— Derivation of life from another 
being whose nature and qualities the offspring shares per- 
fectly. The young of each kind of living thing is identi- 
cal in being with the parent. There is unity of being in 
the same substance, with distinction of " persons." 

(2) The relation of mutual love.— There is the relation 



308 THE SUNDAY -SCHOOL TEACHER's MANUAL 

of mutual love and knowledge between Father and Son 
(St. Matt. 1 1 : 27). 

(3) A relationship on equal terms.— A relationship on 
equal terms, an intimacy which is the result of the perfect 
unity in thought and will and love between Father and 
Son: "No one hath seen the Father save He which is of 
God, He hath seen the Father " (St. John 6 : 46). '* The 
Son can do nothing of Himself, but what things soever He 
seeth the Father do, these also doeth the Son " (St. John 
5 : 19). The analogy holds good in all points save the 
time relation, which necessarily disappears, for divine re- 
lations must be eternal. God is ever Father and ever 
Son in the Unity of the Spirit. This is expressed in the 
phrase, " Begotten of the Father before all Worlds," that 
is, in eternity. ** O Father, glorify Thou Me with the 
glory which I had with Thee before the world was. . . . 
Thou lovedst Me before the foundation of the world " 
(St. John 17 :5,24). 

The words, " God of God, Light of Light" express the 
thought of derivation and revelation, God proceeding 
forth from God, the effulgence of His glory, the express 
image of His person or character. What such derivation 
may mean, we cannot know. But it does assure us that 
in Christ, God Himself is revealed. It is literally true, 
•* He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father " ; " in the 
face of Jesus Christ, we behold the glory of God." This 
is the vital point on which the Church insisted that it is 
the Son of God Himself and not some lower being, as 
Arius held, who became incarnate in Christ. Thoughtful 
men no longer sneer, as Gibbon did, at the " senseless 
conflict " over a Greek diphthong, homoousios vs. homo- 
iousios, " the same nature or like nature." Words stand 
for things and truths. " Gilt " and " gold " differ in only 
three letters, but in actual use the confusing of the two 
may put a man in jail. Scholars such as Carlyle, T. H. 
Green, Benjamin Kidd, who study the profound modifica- 
tions in human thought wrought by the Gospel, realise 



THE THEOLOGY OF THE CATECHISM 309 

that the conflict was over a vital truth and admit that if 
the Arian theory of a demi-god had triumphed, Chris- 
tianity would have been swept away by the resurgent 
tide of Polytheism. 

The Doctrine of the Holy Trinity 

'* What dost thou chiefly learti in these Articles of 
thy Belief? 

*< First, I learn to believe in God the Father, who 
hath made me and all the world. 

" Secondly, in God the Son, who hath redeemed 
me, and all mankind. 

'* Thirdly, in God the Holy Ghost, who sanctifieth 
me and all the people of God." 

Its nature.— This is the practical and for most Chris- 
tian people the sufficient statement of the Holy Trinity. 
It is the name of God, which Christ came to declare 
(St. John 17:6) and into which He directed all who 
would come to Him to be baptised. A name thus em- 
phasised must have profound significance. It does not 
imply merely a threefold relation to men, but reveals a 
threefoldness in the very Being of God. This has ever 
been the faith of the Church as simply stated in Article I. 
'♦ There is one living and true God . . . and in the 
unity of this Godhead there be three persons of one sub- 
stance, power and eternity, the Father, the Son, and the 
Holy Ghost." 

Its origin — This faith in the Divine Trinity was not, as 
some think, the product of later philosophising. It is 
implied in Christ's own teaching. (Read St. John 14: 
16-18; 14: 26; and 16: 13-16, where the personal pro- 
noun He is used of the Holy Spirit, although the word 
pneuma is neuter.) It is enshrined in the baptismal 
formula, and its familiarity to all Christians appears in the 
use in the benediction, ** The grace of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the 
Holy Ghost, be with us all evermore." 



310 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER's MANUAL 

This entirely new thought of a triune God was not the 
result of any conscious reasoning but rather the inspired 
intuition of the profound meaning of the words of Jesus 
Christ, asserting His equality with God — an assertion in- 
volved in the Church's living faith in Him as the true 
Son of God. The sacred writers never thought of Him 
as a second God beside the Father, but always as abso- 
lutely one with Him in the unity of the Spirit (St. Matt. 
II: 27 ; St. John 10: 30). Like the Incarnation, the 
Trinity is never stated as a dogma, but rather taken for 
granted, as the common possession of the Christian con- 
sciousness enlightened by the Spirit, in a multitude of 
passages, which being used by strict monotheists, imply 
an unformulated idea of a Divine Trinity; such as I Cor. 
12 : 3-11 ; Eph. 4 : 3-6 ; i St. Pet. i : 2 ; i Cor. 2 : 10-12 ; 
Gal. 4: 4-6; St. Jude 20-21. 

The divinity of the Son and the Spirit.— The Church's 
preaching of the divinity of the Son and of the Spirit 
was an offence to both Jews and Gentiles, and gave oc- 
casion to misunderstanding by the pagans, and to 
heresies among believers. The heretics did not mean 
to depart from the common faith but only to " explain " 
it, and the Church was compelled in self-defence to 
condemn their crude interpretations and bold theorisings, 
and reluctantly to defend and define in set terms her 
ancient faith. An English thinker tells us that the 
Church was right in insisting on preserving the idea of 
God, involved in the Christian revelation, in all its inex- 
plicable fullness : " So it has come about — that while 
such simplifications as those of Arius would have des- 
troyed Christianity, being alien and impossible to 
modern modes of thought, the doctrine of Christ's 
divinity still gives reality and life to the worship of 
miUions of poor souls entirely ignorant of the controversy 
to which they owe its preservation " (Balfour, Founda- 
tions of Belief y p. 287). 

No alternative.— It is as true now as in the earliest 



THE THEOLOGY OF THE CATECHISM 3II 

days that there is no alternative to the Apostlic Gospel 
of the Son of God become the Son of Man for our salva- 
tion, save some form of Unitarianism. But with the de- 
nial of the Incarnation, all that has made Christianity 
a unique rehgion, full of comfort and inspiration, dis- 
appears. 

Its mystery.— It is impossible for us to express ad- 
equately, much less to comprehend, the mystery — i, e., 
revelation — of the Divine Triunity. We lack the words 
in which to state it. Theologians in every age have 
used the word " person " only under protest, for it now 
expresses the most definite concept of individual being, 
whereas God, as Calvin said, is absolutely one. " The 
words, Father, Son and Holy Ghost, certainly intimate 
distinctions in the Godhead, but it is a distinction not a 
division." 

The only analogy which offers a perfect Unity with 
sharply defined inner distinctions is found in our own 
self-consciousness. God's name revealed at the burning 
bush was •* I am that I am," and man made in His image 
can also say " I am I." (Read i Cor. 2 : 9-12.) 

We know the spirit basis of our own being, only in 
and through the relation of the I, the essential self, to 
the " me," the self of experience, as subject and object, 
the knower and the known, reality and image, both one 
in the unity of the person. Even so, God, the infinite 
Spirit, is known only through the revelation of the 
Father in the Son, who is His word and image, one with 
Himself in the unity of the Spirit (St. Matt. 11 : 27; 
St. John I : 14-18 ; 14: 9; 16: 15 ; 2 Cor. 4: 5-6). 

The fact that we know personality as a complex, and 
not a simple, mode of being, makes credible to us the 
Christian revelation of God, as the perfect Personality, 
the abode of life and love and action, morally and spiri- 
tually complete in the manifoldness of Triune Godhead. 

This line of thought is for those to whom it appeals. 
To others it may at least suggest the thought that our 



312 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHERS MANUAL 

personality in its lower degree is almost as mysterious 
as God's, so '* incomprehensible," indeed, that many 
psychologists to-day deny its possibility, even as many 
Christians will not believe in the Trinity, because they 
cannot understand it or because as " it has no practical 
bearings," which many philosophers assure us, is true 
also of our belief that we are persons. 

Makes possible a true Incarnation. — The Triune Be- 
ing of God alone makes possible a true Incarnation. The 
whole Godhead does not become incarnate, but, as the 
New Testament teaches, it is the Eternal Son, one with 
the Father, who was " made flesh, and dwelt among us, 
and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only be- 
gotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." 

The history of the Church bears witness to the divine 
truth and human value of this " metaphysical " doctrine, 
for in the face of obvious objections which have given 
rise to constant and prolonged discussion and dissensions, 
the heart of Christendom has instinctively held it fast as 
vital. All attempts to replace it by Unitarian conceptions 
as " more reasonable and inteUigible " have failed, though 
often made by earnest and noble thinkers. They do not 
satisfy the real need of the simple hearts of men. On 
the other hand, it resisted popular tendencies to degrade 
it into polytheism or tri-theism and created and has 
maintained through the centuries, the most vital and 
consistent monotheism the world has ever known. 

The Virgin Birth 

"And in Jesus Christ His only Son our Lord: 
Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, Born of the 
Virgin Mary." 

Place in the Creed.— The Virgin Birth, widely chal- 
lenged of late, has formed part of the Creed from the 
earliest time, for it is found in the creedal expressions of 
Ignatius, the Martyr Bishop of Antioch and the con- 



THE THEOLOGY OF THE CATECHISM 313 

temporary of St. John. Two narratives, which are pre- 
fixed to the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Luke, de- 
scribe it with delicate reserve and bear striking witness 
to their early date, for their point of view is distinctly pre- 
Christian both in word and thought to a degree beyond 
the imitation of any later forger. They show not a trace 
of the actual Gospel history, whose course was entirely 
different from the Messianic expectation of the Jews. 
The Song of Zacharias speaks of John the Baptist's mis- 
sion purely in the terms of Isaiah without a hint as to his 
actual preaching of a judgment near at hand, which was 
fulfilled in the fall of Jerusalem within that generation, 
a fact which also is ignored. The Cross of Christ, 
central in His own preaching, appears only in the truly 
prophetic and pathetic words to the Virgin : *' A sword 
shall pierce through thine own soul also." 

The obvious objection.— The obvious objection that the 
Virgin Birth is not definitely mentioned in the Gospels 
and Epistles outside the two narratives is answered by 
the obvious rejoinder, that any public statement of the 
Virgin Birth in the Virgin's lifetime would have caused 
serious scandal. The same is true of the Epistles to a 
great extent, for they were read in the Christian Churches 
publicly ; whereas this truth was essentially a secret of the 
faith for the faithful, jealously guarded till the firm estab- 
lishment of the Church in the time of Ignatius. But 
though thus hidden at first, it certainly underlies St. Paul's 
theology, for he contrasts the first Adam with the second 
in this one point; that whereas the first man sinned and 
involved all his race in sinful tendency, Christ, the second 
Adam, brought forgiveness and life to men through His 
perfect obedience. He being the Righteous One, who alone 
of men is free from the universal taint of a will inclined to 
evil. Many ethical writers admit that a Virgin life is as 
incredible to them as a Virgin Birth (Rom. 5: 15-21; 
I Cor. 15:47-49). 

A true Incamation.~God works no miracle without a 



314 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER'S MANUAL 

worthy cause, which in this case is plain, for it seems im- 
phed in a true Incarnation. The preexisting Son must 
be born by His own will, not by the will of a man, and 
He cannot proceed out of the common vitiated stock. 
His clean humanity must be initiated by His own act 
through the Spirit and hallowed by His own indwelling ; 
this would not make Him less, but rather more truly a 
man, for sin is not an element of true manhood but a dis- 
turbing factor. The Ideal Man is the normal man ac- 
cording to God's concept of Humanity. He is the Son 
of man, our organic head, standing in relation to every 
man and to all races (St. Matt. 25 : 32, 42-46; Col. 
3:11). 

The Descent into Hell 

"Suffered under Pontius Pilate, Was crucified, 
dead and buried : He descended into Hell." 

Change in meaning of word Hell. — The change in 
the meaning of this old word " Hell " has made this ancient 
article of the Faith a stumbling-block to many in the 
Church and still more to those without, although it was 
really meant at first to afifirm our Lord's manhood and 
the reality of His death ; — that He died as we die and that 
His spirit, also, went to " the place of departed spirits." 

In early English and German. — In early English and 
German, Hell meant the hollow or covered place, the 
underworld, and corresponds exactly to the Hebrew 
Sheol and the Greek Hades, where abide the spirits of all 
the dead, awaiting the resurrection. 

At the Reformation. — But at the Reformation, under 
the justifiable reaction against the evils connected with 
the Roman CathoHc doctrine of Purgatory, the Inter- 
mediate State was ignored, and the old word lost its first 
and proper meaning and was applied to the final state of 
the impenitent, which the New Testament writers call 
Gehenna (St. Matt. 5 : 22 ; 10 : 28). 



THE THEOLOGY OF THE CATECHISM 315 

The neglect of Scripture teaching. — The neglect of 
Scripture teaching on this point has led to many deplor- 
able errors, such as the popular idea of Hell as the rival 
Kingdom of Satan into whose merciless hands lost souls 
are dehvered to be tormented; whereas Christ taught 
that the wicked at the judgment depart into " the fire of 
Gehenna," " prepared for the devil and his angels," to 
receive the due reward of their own lives and deeds, 
suffering with, but not from, evil spirits hke them- 
selves. 

Ohrist's descent into Hades.— Christ's descent into 
Hades, the " place of departed spirits," as our rubric calls 
it, is plainly taught in the New Testament. To the peni- 
tent thief, our Lord said, " To-day thou shalt be with Me 
in Paradise " (St. Luke 23 : 43). Here Paradise corre- 
sponds to the " bosom of Abraham," both being common 
Jewish terms for the state of the blessed in Hades as dis- 
tinguished from the wicked who are in misery. This ap- 
pears also from the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, 
where both are in Hades (St. Luke 16 : 23). 

St. Peter taught at Pentecost that the soul of Christ 
alone was not left in Hades (Acts 2 : 31), whither He not 
only descended but also being quickened in spirit, 
preached to the spirits there in ward (i St. Pet. 3 : 19-20, 
the Epistle for Easter Even). 

St. Paul treats the Descent as a familiar fact : " Now 
that He ascended, what is it but that He also descended 
first into the lower parts of the earth ? He that ascended 
is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, 
that He might fill all things." In Philippians 2 : 10, 
Christ is declared to be Lord of all orders of beings — 
angels in Heaven and men on earth and spirits in Hades, 
the underworld. 

The theological significance of this fact is great. It 
proves the completeness of His manhood and the reality 
of His death. Being man, His spirit like those of all 
men, passed at death into the place of departed spirits. 



3l6 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER's MANUAL 

He thus hallowed every condition of human experience. 
No limits of time or space can bar His access to spirits. 
His redeeming work concerns all mankind, the multitude 
who passed away before His Advent, as well as those 
who come after it. 

•' For whether we live we live unto the Lord ; and 
whether we die we die unto the Lord ; whether we live 
therefore or die we are the Lord's. For to this end 
Christ both died and rose and revived that He might be 
Lord both of the living and dead." 

Although this article is first found in the Creed of 
North Italy about 400 a. d., it formed part of the universal 
faith from the earliest times. It is mentioned by nearly 
all the Church fathers of the first three hundred years, 
who all agree in the same conception of Hades, which is 
very different from the later doctrine of Purgatory. 
Justin Martyr (150 A. d.) declares that those who say 
there is no resurrection but that at death all souls go to 
Heaven, are to be accounted neither Christians nor 
Jews. 

The life after death.— Little is revealed of that mys- 
terious disembodied state, whose conditions are beyond 
our comprehension. But we know that the spirits are 
conscious, and that those who fall asleep in Jesus are 
present with the Lord, which would seem to imply 
growth in spiritual character and knowledge of divine) 
things. Scripture gives no information as to the exact 
nature or effect of Christ's preaching of the Gospel to the 
dead. The earliest fathers, e.g., Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, 
Tertullian, knew nothing of the later belief that He de- 
livered many saints from Hades and exalted them to 
Heaven. 

It is true that prayers for the dead were common in 
the primitive Church, but they were simple commenda- 
tions of their beloved, the living whom we call the dead, 
to the loving care of God, even as we commend those in 
the flesh who are far away. They were different in spirit 



tHE THEOLOGY OF THE CATECHtSM 317 

and aim from mediaeval prayers for deliverance from the 
pains of Purgatory. 

The Atonement 

Our knowledge fragmentary.— The Church has ever 
proclaimed the profound fact of the Atonement through 
the life and death of Christ ; that is, the forgiveness of 
sins and the reconciliation of God and man in the person 
of the incarnate Son. But she has never set forth any 
definite theory, and her theologians distinguish between 
the transcendent mystery of the divine fact and the many 
attempts, varying in value through the ages, to explain 
its precise method. The various metaphors and analo- 
gies used in the New Testament in connection with the 
Atonement are practical illustrations of its effect on the 
men who believe in Christ, not revelations of its method 
in relation to God, and hence cannot be made the basis 
of dogmatic theories, though they do indicate its many 
aspects. The unsatisfactory and one-sided character of 
the successive attempts at systematic definition arises 
from the over-emphasising of some of those aspects to the 
exclusion of others which would qualify them. It seems 
wisest, avoiding too minute systematising, to ponder rever- 
ently the whole counsel of God in this profound and 
many-sided divine act and fact, even though we cannot 
harmonise its different aspects as they meet us in Holy 
Writ. Our knowledge must be fragmentary in the case 
of a spiritual and divine fact concerning God as well as 
men. 

The Fatherhood of God.— The Fatherhood of God 
should be determinative in all theological thought, and the 
fact that many theories of the Atonement replaced it by 
abstract legal conceptions of implacable justice under the 
analogy of judge and criminal, has been fruitful in harm. 
There is a divine eternal wrath against the iniquity which 
has broken the world's moral order and is ruining the 
souls of men. God is a sovereign and a righteous judge, 



31 8 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER's MANUAL 

but even in wrath He remembereth mercy and in spite of 
its sin He loved the world and sent His Son to save it. 
In all His dealings with men, He ever remains, what the 
human judge never is, the loving Father of the sinner and 
the criminal. It is easy to judge strangers justly with 
complete unconcern. It is different when the offender 
is one's own child ; then the heartaches in pity even while 
it justly condemns. With God there are no " other peo- 
ple's children " and the cross of Christ is the expression 
in time of the burden of grief which the children's wilful 
sins laid upon the heart of the Father in eternity. It is 
the Father's will of good that the Son comes to reveal 
and to do (St. John 3 : i6; Rom. 5 : 8-10). 

The unity of God and man in the Person of the Incar- 
nate Son.— His unique personahty, both human and divine, 
enabled Christ to act in life and death, not as a substi- 
tute for either but in actuality for both, being one with 
God and one with Man. The Man Christ Jesus realised 
in His whole life the Divine idea of Man (St. Matt. 3 : 17). 
In Him, the second Adam, humanity retraced its sinful his- 
tory rendering that free-will obedience to the Father, in 
which the first Adam and his whole race failed (Rom. 
5 : 1 2-1 8). He passed through our whole experience, 
tempted as we are, yet sinless, bearing our sins on His suf- 
fering heart in perfect sympathy in Gethsemane, as well 
as in His suffering body on the tree. Identified with all 
men as the Son of man (St. Matt. 25 : 35-40), He voiced 
in our behalf the penitence we owe, and offered up the 
vicarious sacrifice of perfect love for His brethren, thus 
satisfying the law of righteousness in life and death by 
obeying it (Phil. 2 : 8). Being organically one with 
humanity. His life and death are ideally ours and become 
ours in actuality through repentance and faith and the 
self-surrender of our wills to His. " For the love of 
Christ constraineth us ; because we thus judge, that if one 
died for all, therefore all died ; and He died for all, that 
they which Hve should no longer live unto themselves, 



THE THEOLOGY OF THE CATECHISM 319 

but unto Him who for their sakes died and rose again " 
(2 Cor. 5 : 14, R. V.). Hence we make our prayers " in 
the name of Christ." 

Redemption.— DeHverance from the power and captiv- 
ity of Sin, Satan and Death. This is the earhest analogy. 
The very name, Jesus, means " He who saves His people 
from their sins." Christ made this truth the text of His 
first preaching (St. Luke 4: 18). The root idea of this 
group of words is setting captives of war free by ransom 
or more commonly without ransom, by conquest of the 
oppressor (Hos. 13 : 14 ; Isa. 63 : 1-5). The Son of man 
enters the house of the strong man and spoils his goods, 
" leading captivity captive," and setting free his slaves 
(St. Matt. 12: 29). But in the conflict, He is wounded 
unto death, thus giving His hfe as a ransom for His peo- 
ple and redeeming them from the powers of evil (Heb. 
2: 14-15; Col. i: 13-14)- 

Forgiveness.— Remission of the Guilt of Sin. The New 
Testament treats the death of Christ as in some way the 
objective ground of our forgiveness, without which there 
can apparently be no redemption (St. Matt. 26 ; 27-28 ; 
St. John 3 : 14- 15 ; St. Luke 24 : 46). Why this was so, 
we cannot know. The old formula, ** Justice is obligatory 
on God, mercy is optional," is crude in its legalism and 
ignores all other sides of the Atonement. Christ did not 
bear the actual penalty of our sins, for physical death is 
not all their penalty. But as our true spiritual head, one 
with us. He lives and acts and suffers for us, not that '• the 
guilty may go scot free," but that redeemed from slavery 
to sin and self, they may rise up gladly to follow in His 
footsteps of obedience, love and sacrifice even to death 
(St. John 15 : 10-14; i St. Pet. 2: 21-25). 

Reconciliation or At-one-ment.— Under the legalistic 
tendency, this aspect has been till recently neglected, but 
it is involved in the relation of the Holy Father and His 
sinful children and is emphasised in Scripture (St. Luke 
15 : 32 ; Rom. 5 : 8-1 1). For Christ also hath once suf- 



320 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHERS MANUAL 

fered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring 
us to God (i St. Pet. 3: i8). 

The old Enghsh word, at-one-ment, means, as its 
etymology shows, the making at one of friends alienated 
or of enemies warring (Lev. 16: 18-20; Acts 7:26; 
Rom. 5 : lO-ii). In Tyndal's and the Geneva Version, 
it is more frequently used than in the King James'. " The 
At-one-ment between God and man consists of two parts ; 
God made at one with man by the work of Christ and 
man made at one with God by the work of the Christian 
ministry " (2 Cor. 5 : 18-21). 

New life.— New life, full of quickening power, comes to 
humanity through the death on the cross. The Atone- 
ment was completed by the Resurrection of the Lord, and 
the Ascension with the coming of the Holy Spirit. In 
the New Testament redemptive teaching, these three ele- 
ments form a perfect whole, not to be separated (Rom. 
4 : 24-25 ; 8 : 2 -4 ; Eph. 4 : 8- 10). The imparting of new 
life in the Spirit of sonship through the Holy Spirit is the 
very aim of the Incarnation. " I am come that ye may 
have life," " He died that they which live should not live 
henceforth unto themselves, but to Him who died for 
them and rose again." But the Holy Spirit, though never 
absent from men, could not come in the fullness of His 
grace until the mediatorial work of Christ was done and 
men's hearts were open to His influence (St. John 7 : 30 ; 
16: 7; Acts 2: 33). 

The blood outpoured on the Cross like that of the sac- 
rificial victims, is " the blood which is the life " and there- 
fore has quickening as well as cleansing power ; while His 
body is the bread of life (i St. John i : 5-7 ; St. John 6 : 
51 ; Heb. 9: 11-14). 

The Sacrifice on Calvary is not only a sin-offering but 
a covenant sacrifice as well, laying the foundation of the 
Kingdom of God in which, through the power of the in- 
dweUing Spirit of life and love and unity, men should 
have perfect fellowship with God and with one an- 



THE THEOLOGY OF THE CATECHISM 321 

Other (St. Mark 14: 24; Heb. 8: 10-13; I St. John 
4:6-13). 

The Resurrection 

** The third day He rose again from the dead : He 
ascended into heaven, And sitteth on the right hand 
of God the Father Almighty." 

What it is.— The Resurrection is the divine confirmation 
and historical attestation of the truth of Christ's claim to 
be the Son of God and Lord of Men (Acts 2 : 32-36 ; 17 : 
31; Rom. I : 4). 

Its purpose.— It is the one " sign " which Christ prom- 
ised to the Jews, who demanded proof by miracles. 
With it Christianity stands or falls as a revelation of 
things eternal, which has a firm historical basis in a definite 
fact in the temporal order (i Cor. 15: 1 2-21). It con- 
summates and completes the redemptive work of His rec- 
onciling death. His risen life is the spring and source 
of spiritual hfe and grace to His people (Rom. 6: 4-11 ; 
5 : 10). One with man in His life and death, He is one 
with us in His resurrection. His rising is the earnest of 
ours (i Cor. 15 : 20-23). 

In the ApostoHc preaching, the Death, Rising and 
Ascension of the Lord form three necessary elements in 
one supreme spiritual fact and truth. The humiliation of 
the Cross is ever closely connected with the exaltation to 
the right hand of God (St. John 12 : 32 ; Phil. 2 : 9), for 
the glory of God is the perfection of His love (2 Cor. 
4 : 6), and the Son of man, who serves most nobly, even 
unto death, is the king most worthy to rule (Phil. 
2:5-11). 

The Ascension. — The Ascension is the enthronement of 
Christ (St. Matt. 28: 18-20; St. Mark 16: 19; Eph.4: 8-10). 
His actual, living, ever-present rule is the central truth of 
the Gospel in the Acts and the Epistles. The Lord 
Jesus is king of man, overruling the forces and move- 
ments of history to a divine end. He is the head of the 



322 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHERS MANUAL 

Church His Body, present and working in it for the world 
through the Holy Spirit. He is the High Priest of 
Humanity in the heavens, our intercessor and mediator, 
perfect in sympathy through His continued humanity, 
carrying on the work of man's redemption till the con- 
summation of human history in the completion of His 
mediatorial work (St. Matt. 28 : 20 ; Heb. 4 : 14-16). 

The Holy Ghost 
"I believe in the Holy Ghost." 

Nature.— The Holy Ghost, the indwelling Spirit of 
God, is the characteristic feature of the Christian Revela- 
tion. The Old Testament does not distinguish the 
Spirit of the Lord from God, but the work attributed to 
Him in the world and in man agrees closely with the 
New Testament teaching concerning His mission. 

The New Testament formulated no doctrine as to His 
relation to the Father and Son, but the Christian con- 
sciousness of His work in the soul and the Church, found 
expression from the beginning in language inconsistent 
with the idea that He is merely an influence or a potency 
of God. 

(i) He is spoken of directly as a conscious personality . 
His relation to us and ours to Him is personal. His 
works and acts are personal. 

(2) He is one with God ; the two words are used as 
synonyms. 

(3) Yet He is distinct from the Father and the Son. 
The Relation of the Holy Ghost to Humanity.— He is 

the Lord, the life-giver, source and support of all life, 
physical, mental and spiritual ; the revealer of truth ; the 
inspirer of all holy desires, all good counsels and all 
righteous works. All Scripture symbols of the Spirit 
imply power, as light, fire, life. 

(i) As the Spirit of redemption and holiness. As the 
Spirit of redemption and holiness, He perfects in individ- 



THE THEOLOGY OF THE CATECHISM 323 

uals the redemption wrought for all men in Christ. He 
glorifies Christ, revealing Him as Lord, and recreates 
man, transforming him more and more into the image 
of Him who manifested in human form the eternal life 
(Rom. 8: 20-28; 2 Cor. 3: 18). 

(2) As the Paraclete. As the Paraclete, He makes 
Christ present in the heart of believers, the source of 
strength and hope and '• God with us " becomes " God in 
us." Christ departs in the flesh that He may return in 
the Spirit. The coming of the Spirit, not merely as the 
source of life, but as an abiding personal presence in 
humanity, became possible only through the Incarnation 
and the Atonement. Hence He is called the Spirit of 
Christ. He speaks not of Himself but of the Incarnate 
Son, who reveals the Father (St. John 14 : 16-18 ; 16: 7- 
15 ; Phil. I : 19 ; Rom. 8 : 9-1 1 ; Eph. 3 : 14-21). 

(3) The Spirit of Holiness. He convinces of sin, 
righteousness and judgment. 

(4) The Spirit of Divine Life. He regenerates the 
individual and organises the Church, the Body of Christ. 

(5) The Spirit of Light. He speaks through the 
prophets and the Scriptures and glorifies Christ, illuminat- 
ing the Gospel and guiding the Church into the Truth. 

(6) The Spirit of Strength and Grace. He gives 
spiritual gifts and acts, also, through the Sacraments. 

(7) The Spirit of Unity. He works through love to 
establish the Kingdom of Heaven. 

(8) Inspirer of Holy Writ. He spake, by the 
prophets, of both covenants. The Bible was written 
for the Church, through the inspiration of the Spirit, 
whose habitation she is. She is, therefore, the witness 
and keeper of Holy Writ, which is the sole source of her 
knowledge of revealed truth and the authoritative 
standard of her teaching. She teaches ; the Bible 
proves. There is the widest liberty of thought ; and the 
essential articles are few and definite, being contained in 
the two Creeds. 



324 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHERS MANUAL 

" Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to 
salvation, so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor may 
be proved thereby is not required of any man, that it 
should be believed as an article of the Faith, or be thought 
requisite or necessary to salvation " (Article VI). 

It was through the guidance and illumination of the 
indwelling Spirit, not by the decree of any Council, that 
the widely scattered congregations of the one CathoHc 
Church, so soon and so wonderfully agreed upon the 
books to be accounted and accepted as divine oracles. 
The Historical Church has never set forth any definite 
theory of Biblical inspiration. The Holy Ghost spake 
by the prophets and has ever borne witness to His own 
teaching in hearts open to receive it. 

The Resurrection of the Body 

The word Body correctly translates the Greek for 
*• flesh," as that word is used in the New Testament for the 
bodily form (St. John I : 14). In the early Church, it was 
commonly interpreted, with some marked exceptions, to 
mean the raising of the corpse in its identical particles. 
But we are free to take it in the broader sense that our 
spirits at the Resurrection will be clothed with bodies 
suited to their higher life, for the New Testament speaks 
only of the resurrection of the dead, not of the body, and 
St. Paul declares, "that which thou sowest, thou sowest not 
that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of 
wheat, or of some other grain, but God giveth it a body 
as it hath pleased Him and to every seed his own body." 
He emphasises the different kinds of " body " which God 
gives to each great class of animals, according to its en- 
vironment. " There is a natural body and there is a 
spiritual body." The " natural " is the fleshly body, the 
wonderful organism of the psychic or animal hfe. The 
" spiritual " body may be matter in some ethereal form, 
for it is the perfect organ of glorified spirit fitted to the 
perfect life of Heaven (i Cor. 15 : 48-52; 2 Cor. 5 : 1-2). 



THE THEOLOGY OF THE CATECHISM 325 

It will be our own body, just as the body of a man is the 
same as that of his boyhood, though every particle of 
matter has changed. The identity depends on the same- 
ness of the person, not of the matter in the body, and on 
the maintenance of the typical form, which last may 
change with an entire change of environment and func- 
tion. The butterfly is the own or proper body of the 
same living creature which was once a caterpillar. Christ 
did rise with the same body, though changed, that He 
died with; but His body alone "saw no corruption" and 
its rising was needful in order that the Apostles, slow of 
faith, might be certain He was the same person. He may 
not have assumed His " body of glory" (Phil. 3: 21), 
till He ascended into Heaven (St. John 20: 17). 

The Lord's Coming to Judgment 
" He shall come to judge the quick and the dead." 

The Church Catholic has never made any dogmatic 
statement concerning the Last Things, nor has the Church 
of England or our own. 

No definition necessary.— The universal faith in the 
certainty of judgment and retribution in the life to come, 
unmistakably taught in the Gospel, rendered such defini- 
tion unnecessary. The deeper feeling of the solemn 
mystery of the whole subject and the recognition of the 
necessarily figurative character of the New Testament 
language, as well as the influence of a sympathetic and 
more Christian spirit, have greatly modified the crude 
and cruel conceptions of popular theology and under- 
mined the hard dogmatism, which condemned all the 
heathen and unbaptised or non-elect children to eternal 
misery. Although the varying views, always held by 
some Christian thinkers, are brought into sharper contrast 
to-day by open discussion, the ethical character of the 
best modern thought checks any tendencies to An- 



326 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER's MANUAL 

tinomianism and confirms the main principles of Scrip- 
ture teaching, spiritually interpreted. 

New Testament interpretation.— The New Testament 
ever connects the final judgment with the Coming of the 
Lord, which brings with it the resurrection of the dead and 
the end of the world or the consummation of this age. 
Most Protestant systems, however, place the judgment at 
death, each soul passing at once to its eternal state in 
heaven or hell (Westminster Confession XXXII). This 
view does not do justice to the profound significance in 
Scripture of the Resurrection, and makes the final general 
judgment only a public announcement of the " particular " 
judgment, past and fixed. 

Opinion of Anglican divines.— Most Anglican divines 
have held the Scriptural doctrine of Hades, or the place 
of departed spirits, into which all souls descend alike at 
death, as did the Son of Man. Of that disembodied and 
imperfect state, little is revealed save that the spirits are 
conscious, though " asleep " to material things, and that 
the faithful are present with the Lord. The Intermediate 
State formed part of the common Faith of the primitive 
Church, as we have seen, and it is being accepted by an 
increasing number of Protestant thinkers. 

The characteristic element.— The Resurrection of all 
the dead is the characteristic element in Christian 
Eschatology. It is not only explicitly taught, but is em- 
bodied historically in the rising again of the Lord, that 
being an earnest of ours. Man, being dual in nature as 
the meeting-point of matter and spirit, must be redeemed 
in body as well as soul (St. John 5 : 28-29; Acts 24: 
14-15). But " we sow not the body which shall be, for 
flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God." 

The Life Everlasting 

It is unfortunate that both the Authorised Version and 
the Prayer Book treat the words " everlasting " and 
" eternal " as synonyms with a decided preference for 



THE THEOLOGY OF THE CATECHISM 32/ 

** everlasting," for the difference between the two is great 
and most significant. 

The word everlasting.— The word everlasting is a purely- 
quantitative word, e. g.y hfe without end. But it is qual- 
ity, not quantity, which determines whether continuous 
existence shall be a blessing or a curse, just as any period 
of our earthly life may be a time of happiness or of 
misery. 

The word eternal.— The word eternal is qualitative in 
the highest degree, for it carries our thoughts upward to 
the one Being, who is eternal, because He alone stands 
above time and exists through '' all the ages of the ages " 
— the Bible phrase for everlasting. Eternal life therefore 
is God's life, perfect in love and truth and goodness. 
From it all men are alienated through their sins, but their 
hearts approve it as their true Hfe (Eph. 4:18). It 
was made manifest in the life of the Son of God become 
the Son of man who lived God's life under human condi- 
tions, and left us an example that we should follow His 
footsteps in the strength of the Spirit which He outpours 
(i St. John I : 1-4). 

Christ defines it : " This is eternal Hfe to know Thee, 
the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast 
sent." It is the new Hfe unto righteousness of which 
Baptism is the symbol. It begins now (see the Gospel 
for Communion of the Sick : St. John 5 : 24), but it will 
not be perfected till the coming of Christ (i St. John 
3:1-3; Rom. 8: 18-23). 

The Law of Duty : The Rule of Life 

'*They did promise and vow three things in my 
name : First, that I should renounce the devil and 
all his works, the pomps and vanity of this wicked 
world, and all the sinful lusts of the flesh ; Secondly, 
that I should believe all the Articles of the Christian 
Faith ; And Thirdly, that I should keep God's holy 
will and commandments, and walk in the same all the 
days of my life," 



328 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHEr's MANUAL 

"Works through love and faith. — The Catechism 
like the Prayer Book is at once dogmatic in the proper 
sense and intensely practical. The Faith of the Church 
should be the Faith of her members, but each individual's 
personal faith must prove itself by the fruits of faith work- 
ing in love (St. John 13:17). The light that shines 
visibly in the Man Christ Jesus is the same that giveth 
light within to every man that cometh into the world 
(St. John I : 4-10). He has well been called the Incar- 
nate Conscience of the race for He identifies Himself with 
the universal law of duty (St. John 3: 18-21), and His 
one test of discipleship is obedience to known duty in 
the spirit of love (St. Matt. 7:21-23). The long con- 
troversy on " Justification by faith alone " has died away 
in Protestant countries because the ethical side of Chris- 
tianity is now appreciated by all, and the external, me- 
chanical religion of the Middle Ages, which the Reform- 
ers had to condemn sternly, has disappeared. " The 
works," which they declared to be of no avail, were not 
really good works done in love and faith, but ecclesias- 
tical penances or ritual acts or gifts of money with the 
purpose of earning merit and justifying themselves be- 
fore God without love or repentance. (See St. Luke 
18:11-14; St. Matt. 23:16-28. Read Articles XI 
and XII). 

God does not justify " the ungodly," as such, but only 
those who sincerely repent and accept His mercy in 
Christ, and thereby cease to be ungodly. Their faith is 
reckoned to them for righteousness (Rom. 4 : 3-6), be- 
cause the good will it involves is itself the germ and 
promise of righteousness in life under the grace of the 
Spirit. 

The Ten Commandments. — The Ten Commandments 
do form a complete summary of concrete duties, but they 
are negative, (" Thou shalt not,") not positive, and they 
have to do with outer deeds, not inner motives, as was 
inevitable in the world's childhood. They are invaluable 



THE THEOLOGY OF THE CATECHISM 329 

in the training of children., whether in age or in ethical 
apprehension. But Christ teaches us in the Sermon on 
the Mount to look beneath the letter and discern the 
spirit. The Beatitudes in contrast to the Decalogue 
throw the emphasis on Being rather than on Doing, on 
inner will and character, not on outer acts (St. Matt. 
5 : i-io). 

Complete obedience to the letter of the Law would make 
no man truly good without charity ; that is, brotherly 
kindness and sympathy (i Cor. 13: 13). This inner 
test of motive forms the great distinction between the 
Ethics of Christendom and of Pagandom. The American 
Church of 1789 struck a high note when she added to 
the Decalogue in the Communion Office, Christ's Sum- 
mary of the Law. Interpreted in that spirit, as they are 
in the Catechism, the Ten Commandments do cover all 
duties (Rom. 13 : 8-10). 

The Means of Grace : The Life of the Spirit 

" My good Child, know this ; that thou art not able 
to do these things of thyself, nor to walk in the Com- 
mandments of God, and to serve Him, without His 
special grace ; which thou must learn at all times to 
call for by diligent prayer." 

Importance of Prayer. — This section affirms the truth, 
which earnest men in all ages have felt, that they cannot 
save themselves from the power of sin, evil will and habit, 
without help from above. Religion is now admitted to 
be the pecuhar mark of mankind everywhere, and it has 
always found expression in prayers and sacrifices to di- 
vine beings for pardon, favour, and strength. 

The Lord's Prayer 

Our Father.— But prayer in its highest form, communion 
with God, began only with Christ's word, " when ye 



330 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER's MANUAL 

pray, say * Our Father ; ' " for the filial faith and spirit is 
the only reasonable ground for prayer. 

Hallowed be Thy name.— The first petition implies this : 
" Hallowed be Thy name." No word seems simpler, but 
all words change in meaning as ideas and customs change, 
and we must not ignore the fact that in the old Bible 
days, fatherhood stood not only for love and provident 
care, but even more for headship and authority. By 
universal custom, the father was ruler and governor in 
his own house, wherein every one owed him respect and 
obedience. With us it is different. Too often father- 
hood suggests merely open-handed generosity, quiet self- 
suppression, complaisant acquiescence in the children's 
whims and wishes, as the price of any affection. He has 
ceased to be the father in the older sense of a ruler, firm 
and stern when need be, and become rather the grand- 
father, over-indulgent, claiming no authority, incapable 
of any discipline. 

God is love, true and perfect, but it is vitally important 
to understand what kind of a God it is who does love us 
— a Father strong and wise, who will do all that needs to 
be done for the child's own good, chastening every son 
whom He receiveth, demanding obedience and reverence 
as His right from all His children. The fear of the Lord, 
— not the trembling dread of slaves, but the loving re- 
spect of children, — has ever been the beginning of wis- 
dom. The besetting sin of our land and age is shallow 
flippancy; its supreme need is humble reverence. Well 
may we pray that God will hallow Himself in our hearts 
and minds, enabling us to conceive and cherish thoughts 
and feelings about Him, which in some faint degree may 
correspond to His supreme majesty and holiness. 

Thy Kingdom come.— The universal and sincere pray- 
ing of this one prayer would at once realise the world's 
age-long dream, " Thy Kingdom come," for that means 
the reign of God in the hearts of man. 

Thy wiU*l;)e done on earth as it is in Heaven.— In the 



THE THEOLOGY OF THE CATECHISM 33 I 

realm of spirit, however, force has no place. The King- 
dom can come only through the glad surrender of our in- 
dividual wills to God's. But we must work as well as 
pray. 

Give us this day our daily bread. — This is the only 
petition for earthly good, but it justifies all prayers for 
the urgent temporal needs of ourselves and of our loved 
ones. Such prayers are the logical expression of the 
faith that God must be Lord in the physical as well as 
the spiritual realm, — both worlds are His. But these pe- 
titions are secondary to those for the spirit (St. Matt. 
6 : 31-33), for the " evils " of the body may be for the 
good of the soul. In the realm of the spirit we already 
know God's will, even our sanctification. In matters of 
this world we must ever add, as Christ did in Gethsemane, 
«' Nevertheless not My will but Thine be done " ; or " If it 
be possible," that is, in accord with God's plan for each 
soul's highest good. 

Here again we must work as well as pray. We do not 
mean to pray that God put food into our open mouths, 
while we do nothing, but that His providence may guide 
us to our daily work and give us strength to do it as in 
His sight. Even so, with prayer for the sick, we should 
thankfully use all the known remedies He has enabled 
men of science to discover, for the marvellous adaptation 
of Nature's material and forces to the body's good is by 
His ordaining. 

Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive (or have for- 
given) those who trespass against us.— This petition re- 
veals another condition of successful prayer — the need 
of spiritual receptivity to receive and retain spiritual 
blessings (St. Matt. i8 : 21-35 ; St. Matt. 5 : 23-24). 

Christ appeals to the highest possible motive, " Be ye 
merciful, as your Father in heaven is merciful " — children 
should long and try to be like their father. Hence He 
bids us pray not merely for the remission of our debts to 
God, but still more for grace to remit the debts of others 



332 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHERS MANUAL 

to US ; not merely that we may have the joy of forgive- 
ness but that He will enable us to be loving and merciful 
to our fellow men (Eph. 4 : 32). 

Lead us not into temptation.— This is the expression of 
the humble self-distrust which Christ emphasised : 
'• Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation. 
The spirit indeed is wilHng but the flesh is weak." 
Trials and tests with conscious choice between different 
actions are indispensable to ethical growth, as we see in 
the tempting of the first and second Adam. Without 
such a struggle, we would remain children. Divine 
providence orders our lives with reference to such test- 
ings, yet the actual solicitation to evil comes not from 
God, but from our own hearts or from the spirit of evil 
(St. James i : 14-15). The Holy Spirit leads Christ into 
the wilderness to be tempted but the temptations them- 
selves come from the evil one. Hence we pray : 

Deliver us from evil.— Or " from the evil one " 
(R. v.). Whether or not this last rendering is correct, it 
serves to remind us that the evil from which we most 
sorely need deliverance, is not pain or sickness or physi- 
cal death, or earthly loss or even grief; but the real 
evil which defiles the heart, degrades the character and 
slays the soul, — sin and wickedness and our spiritual 
enemy. 

The Doxology.— The doxology was probably added very 
early in liturgical use, and fitly closes the prayer with the 
note of adoration with which it begins. 

The Church of Christ : One, Holy, Catholic 
AND Apostolic 

Christianity is social in its very nature. — The father- 
hood of God involves the brotherhood of men, and the 
Lord made love to man correlative with love to God. 
Christ came, preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom of 
God ; the Spirit of Life, who is, also, the Spirit of Unity, 
came, organising beHevers in one living Church. 



THE THEOLOGY OF THE CATECHISM 333 

Ideals crave embodiment They cannot act on the 
world of men without some bodily form. At Pentecost, 
the Holy Spirit brought together, in a visible brother- 
hood, all the followers of the Lord and those who 
accepted their preaching and were baptised ; while 
their unity in Christ was manifest to men, through 
their steadfast continuance with mutual love, in the 
Apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of 
bread and the prayers. To this visible Church, an 
earthen vessel but containing heavenly treasure, is com- 
mitted the preaching of the Word and the ministry of 
the Sacraments, the defence of the Faith once delivered 
to the saints and loving ministration to the souls and 
bodies of men, within and without the fold. 

The visible Church is the embodiment, in partial ex- 
pression, of the Kingdom of God, and the divine instru- 
mentality for its preaching and advancement. All who 
come to Christ, must confess His name before men and 
enter into fellowship with His followers (St. Matt. 
i6 : i8 ; St. Luke 12:8; Rom. 10 : 9). 

The Church is a spiritual organism. — The Church is 
a spiritual organism whose inner unifying principle is the 
Holy Ghost, and whose Head, directing her outer 
activity, is the Lord. Her first duty is to preserve the 
unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, " the law of her 
spiritual health." She exists not for her glory, but for the 
good of humanity, not to be ministered unto but to 
minister, to be the " servant " and messenger of God to 
men as was Jesus, the Christ. She is called to the high 
privilege of walking in His footsteps and doing His work, 
continuing and repeating in the only way possible, the 
sacrifice of the Lord in perfect righteousness and self-de- 
votion to God, unto death. " Lo, I come to do Thy will, 
O God." 

The Church is a Holy Priesthood. — In virtue of this 
power to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God, the 
Church is a holy priesthood. Her ministers, never 



334 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHERS MANUAL 

priests in their own persons or as a caste, are her duly 
appointed representatives and the proper agents of her 
corporate action in the worship of God and the service 
of man. 

The Church is One. — The Church is One, through her 
unity in her Head and the indweUing Spirit. This unity 
is ideal but the Lord and His Apostles emphasise the 
duty bounden on all believers to make it actual, that the 
world may know that the Father hath sent the Son to 
save it. 

Founded on the rock of the Incarnation, and living 
through her faith, the Church has within her the princi- 
ple of an endless life, and the powers of death and 
Hades prevail not against her to divide or destroy. The 
Communion of Saints is indissolubly one in their Head, 
the Lord both of the living and the dead. 

The Church is Holy. — She is holy in respect to the 
Spirit of Holiness, through whom the Lord works out 
His great purpose of sanctifying men (St. John 
17 : 18-19). Her members are all called to be saints, but 
mere membership in the Holy Church cannot make them 
personally holy, unless they cooperate with God's good 
purpose in will and deed, in faith and love. Her wor- 
ship and sacraments are means of grace to active partici- 
pants, not passive recipients. 

The Catholic Church. — The word Catholic, i. e., univer- 
sal, is not found in the New Testament, but the truth it 
expresses is everywhere present (St. Luke 13: 29 ; i Cor. 
1:2; Rev. 5 : 9-10). It is involved in the universality of 
the manhood of Christ : " In Him there is neither 
Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision. Barba- 
rian, Scythian, bond nor free, but Christ is all, and in all." 
Later, the word was naturally used also, to distinguish 
the Faith of the Universal Church, the Truth held ubique^ 
semper et ab omnibus, from heretical teaching. 

The Apostolic Church. — As " Catholic " expresses 
universality in place, so " Apostolic " suggests continuity 



THE THEOLOGY OF THE CATECHISM 335 

in time. The Apostolic Church should have unbroken 
connection with the Church of the Apostolic age ; not 
simply in faith and doctrine but also in the historical 
ministry and organic life, for schisms are alien to the very 
idea of the One Church. But this continuity, also, is an 
ideal not long maintained. 

The Church Universal. — The historic Order should 
not be separated from the historic Faith, but when they are 
unhappily separated, it is plain that the Holy Spirit who 
dwells in the whole Body is not limited in His action by 
the schisms which are contrary to the divine plan. " By 
their fruits ye shall know them." The Church Universal 
must include " all that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, 
called to be saints, who in every place call upon the name 
of Jesus Christ, our Lord both theirs and ours." The 
Anglican Communion, with her historic organisation 
and her broad Catholic faith, is providentially fitted to act 
as a unifying element among English-speaking Chris- 
tians, if only her members will seek to realise her great 
opportunity in the truly Catholic spirit, which makes for 
peace and unity. 

The Sacraments 

" What meanest thou by this word Sacrament ? 

" I mean an outward and visible sign of an inward 
and spiritual grace given unto us ; ordained by Christ 
Himself, as a means whereby we receive the same, 
and a pledge to assure us thereof." 

What they are — The Sacraments are corporate acts of 
prayer and worship embodied in concrete rites, effectual 
pledges of divine grace, binding believers to Christ and 
to one another. In early days, the word was used for all 
rites, but the Prayer Book limits the name, in its full 
sense to Baptism and the Lord's Supper, as the only rites 
ordained by Christ Himself in the Gospel and generally, 
i. €., universally, necessary, for all men, " where they may 
be had." 



33^ THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHEr's MANUAL 

The Catechism definition agrees with Article XXXV. 
" The Sacraments are certain sure witnesses and effec- 
tual signs of God's good- will toward us, by the which He 
works invisibly in us and does not only quicken [Baptism], 
but also strengthens and confirms us in our faith in Him 
[Lord's Supper]. But they have a wholesome effect only 
in those who worthily receive them." 

Grace. — The doctrine of the Sacraments is determined 
largely by that of divine grace. In the New Testament, 
grace means divine favour, free and undeserved. But 
God's loving-kindness in Christ is not inactive, but ever 
carries blessings with it to all who open their hearts 
through faith to receive forgiveness and redemption, 
spiritual renewal and life. It is the " righteousness which 
proceeds from God," an active power, sanctifying and life- 
quickening, of which the Holy Ghost is ever the agent 
(Rom. I : 16-17 ; Titus 3: 4-6). Christ uses the Sacra- 
ments, as helps to our weak faith, and covenant signs and 
pledges of His presence and personal action on our hearts 
through the Spirit. 

Baptism. — Baptism is the effectual sign of covenant 
grace, the instrument whereby we are grafted into the 
Church and receive the pledge of covenant blessings, the 
grace of the Holy Spirit, the forgiveness of sins and the 
promise of everlasting life. '' Baptism puts at our dis- 
posal new spiritual powers for our personal life, but it 
does this, because it incorporates us into a spiritual 
society." 

Regeneration. — Regeneration is the new birth into the 
family of God, the habitation of God through the Spirit. 
It implies a change in the spiritual relations, but not in the 
moral character, of baptised infants. They are all regener- 
ated through the Sacrament since they offer no bar to the 
Holy Spirit ; but none should be baptised without 
sponsors, who make answer in their name to the baptis- 
mal vows and promise to instruct them in the Christian 
life. The new birth is but a beginning and must be fol- 



THE THEOLOGY OF THE CATECHISM ^T,;/^ 

lowed by the new life of faith and righteousness and the 
Baptism be later voluntarily ratified in Confirmation and 
the Lord's Supper. 

Birth sin. — The statement, that " being born in sin and 
the children of wrath, we are hereby made the children 
of Grace," contrasts the Church, the body of beHevers 
called to holiness, with the unbelieving world (i Cor. 
II : 32-37 ; I St. John 5 : 19-20). The phrase," born in 
sin," is connected with the much misunderstood and un- 
popular doctrine of " original sin." But birth sin, the 
universal, inborn tendency to selfishness, the opposing of 
our wills to God's will, t. e., our known duty, is not so 
much a dogma, as a sad fact in all human experience, 
acknowledged as clearly by pagan as by Christian writers. 
The fondest mother dares not hope that her baby will 
prove a sinless man. The Scripture writers do not theorise 
about the origin of sin, but they do make the fact of *• the 
alienation of all men from the life of God " (Eph. 4 : 18), 
and their falling short of the glory God meant them to 
share (Rom. 3 : 21-26), the starting-point of their teaching, 
that man is unable to keep the law of conscience in his 
own strength and stands in urgent need of the divine 
grace which is ofTered to all in Christ (Gal. 2 : 21). 
They speak only of actual sins and never treat the inborn 
tendency to sinfulness when not developed into wilful and 
conscious wrong-doing, as involving guilt ** Sin is not 
imputed where there is no law " (Rom. 5 : 13). 

The phrase " children of wrath " is to be interpreted by 
reference to Ephesians 2 : 1-3, where it is used as correla- 
tive to " children of disobedience " neither phrase hav- 
ing any reference to children at all. " And you did He 
quicken, when ye were dead through your trespasses and 
sins, wherein aforetime ye walked according to the course 
of this world, according to the prince of the power of the 
air, of the spirit that now worketh in the sons of dis- 
obedience ; among whom we also all once lived in the 
lusts of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the 



338 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHEr's MANUAL 

mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the 
rest." In the Hebrew idiom they are called " children of 
wrath," that is, under wrath or judgment because they were 
" in nature," i. e.^ in actual character, wilfully disobedient. 

But unfortunately Augustine and later Calvin taught 
not only the fact of universal sinfulness, but also that the 
sin of Adam involved all the race in personal guilt even 
apart from actual sins, so that infants who died unbaptised 
or non-elect were hopelessly lost, deprived of heaven even 
if not in pain. Against this unethical dogma the natural 
conscience rightly revolts and it has been given up by 
most of those who formerly held it. 

But the Anglican Church never authoritatively stated 
this harsh view though it was commonly believed that 
unbaptised children suffered grievous loss. Article IX is 
descriptive rather than dogmatic. It defines '' birth sin " 
as the fault and corruption of the (ideal) nature of every 
man whereby he is very far gone from original right- 
eousness (or innocence) and is of his own (actual) nature 
inclined to evil. This tendency to wrong, the flaw, not 
the person, " deserves God's wrath and condemnation." 
As a loving father condemns and hates any organic de- 
fect or tendency to disease in his new-born child and 
bends his energies to cure it and save the child ; so does 
the Heavenly Father hate the deadly virus of the sinful 
tendency which is ruining His children, and sends His Son, 
the Great Physician, to save those who could not save 
themselves. UnUke the Puritans, who held that the innate 
flaw was in itself " true and properly sin," involving guilt 
and penalty, the article merely affirms that it has " the 
nature of sin," inasmuch as it tends and leads to actual 
sin. St. James distinguishes clearly between the impulse 
to sin and the actual wrong-doing consciously willed and 
done (St. James 2 : 13-15). 

Infant Baptism and Confirmation 
Infant Baptism.— The Church justifies Infant Baptism as 



THE THEOLOGY OF THE CATECHISM 339 

reasonable on the explicit ground that " when the children 
come to age, themselves are bound to perform the prom- 
ises and vows their sureties made for them," and for this 
purpose she makes use of the Apostolic custom of the 
laying on of hands. It is vitally important that children 
and others should be taught that these vows and promises 
are not peculiar obligations unrelated to common life, 
which the unbaptised escape. Christian life is simply the 
ideal human hfe as revealed in the Son of Man, and the 
Gospel only affirms and strengthens us to meet the re- 
sponsibilities which already rest on all men in virtue of 
the fact that God exists and we are His creatures, and 
that we live in a social order involving mutual relations 
and duties not to be shirked without grievous sin and ruin. 
Confirmation.— Confirmation is simply the acknowl- 
edgment of the solemn facts and duties of life with hum- 
ble prayer to God for grace to make us strong to meet 
them. The First Prayer Book of Edward VI clearly ex- 
pressed the significance that the Church of England at- 
tached to this ApostoHc rite, which in early days fol- 
lowed on Baptism, that sacrament being then celebrated on 
stated occasions in the presence of the Bishop. Our 
present exhortation is given in two rubrics, and a third 
states that the postponement of Confirmation " is agree- 
able with the usage of the Church in times past, whereby 
it was ordained that Confirmation should be ministered 
to them that were of perfect age, that they, being in- 
structed in Christ's rehgion, should openly profess their 
own faith and promise to be obedient unto the will of 
God." Thus used, the sacred rite, solemnly celebrated 
in the face of the Church by her chief minister, forms the 
rational consummation of Infant Baptism, without which 
that sacrament must fail of its spiritual blessing. Coming 
to Confirmation with such intelligent faith and personal 
self-surrender, the young at the threshold of manhood 
open their hearts to the Holy Spirit, confirming and 
strengthening them with the sevenfold gifts of grace. 



340 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHERS MANUAL 

The lawfulness of Infant Baptism.— The practical ques- 
tion as to the lawfulness of Infant Baptism is determined 
more by our conception of the relation of God to all men 
and by historical considerations than by isolated Scrip- 
ture texts. The Baptist theory that God deals with men 
purely as individuals and that we must wait for each 
child's sincere repentance and conscious faith, before 
bringing him into covenant relations with God, is utterly 
foreign to ancient thought. The Jews and the Gentiles 
alike made the family the basis of the rehgious and polit- 
ical life and the children shared in the status of the father 
for good or ill. Nowhere was this more prominent than 
in the Mosaic Law, which required every male to be cir- 
cumcised in infancy, thus entering into a covenant rela- 
tion with God, which later he accepted and ratified in his 
own name. They extended the same principle to the 
Gentile proselytes, baptising as well as circumcising their 
families, just as St. Paul baptised the household of Lydia 
and of the jailor at Philippi. The Lord Christ w^as free 
to set aside the immemorial Law of God and the sacred 
family principles of Israel's religion, but He would need 
to use unm.istakable language to enforce a change so re- 
pugnant to natural feeling and universal custom as the 
separation of parent and child in their religious life. 
There is not even a trace of any such prohibition of the 
reception into Christ's kingdom of the little ones, of 
which He said they were exemplars (St. Mark lo : 13-16). 
Such a revolution in the family relations would have 
caused wide-spread perplexity and controversy with Jew 
and Gentile alike. The Acts and Epistles are full of the 
controversy over the circumcision of the Gentile Chris- 
tians, but are silent as to any discussion on infant baptism. 
St. Paul takes it for granted when he treats circumcision 
as a type of the higher sacrament of baptism (Col. 
2:11-12). The oft-quoted texts, which require repent- 
ance and faith as indispensable conditions of baptism, 
were addressed to adults as our sermons are to-day. If 



THE THEOLOGY OF THE CATECHISM 34 1 

applied to infants {e, g.^ St. Mark i6 : i6), they would im- 
ply that infants cannot be saved at all. It was the Mis- 
sionary stage of the Church's life, when the main stress 
was laid on the conversion of adults, the baptism of infants 
being taken for granted when there were Christian fami- 
nes for their nurture. Clement of Alexandria remarks that 
when Christ spoke of two or three gathered together in 
His name. He meant the church in the Home, the father, 
mother and little child. Later in the same century, 
Origen, himself born of Christian parents, was baptised 
in infancy and states distinctly that infant baptism was 
an Apostohc custom. So great a thinker and so strong 
a personality could not make a mistake as to so vital a 
rite, affecting the family life. 

The Lord's Supper 

Teaching of the Church.— The dogmatic teaching of 
the Church in the Lord's Supper is contained in the Cate- 
chism and Articles XXVII-XXXL It is simple but 
sufficient for the vast majority of Christian people, who 
draw near the Table of their Lord in simple faith and 
deep reverence, desiring to be free from the strife of 
tongues. It is to be regretted that the very sacrament 
designed to affirm and confirm the unity of Christian 
people with one another as well as with the Lord, should 
have been made the occasion of bitter controversies and 
unchristian dissension. It is not possible, and would not 
be profitable, to discuss here the various theories of the 
Holy Communion. The Church has always left her 
members full liberty of thought as to the manner of the 
presence of the Lord during the Sacramental Rite. She 
condemns only Trans-substantiation, the Roman theory 
that the bread and wine are substantially changed by the 
words of consecration into the " real " Body and Blood 
of the Lord, so that " the whole Christ, human and 
divine, becomes present in the sacred elements and 
should be adored on the Altar, and that the Body 



342 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER's MANUAL 

and Blood are received by the wicked " (Articles 
XXVIII-XXXI). 

Intheearly Church.— In the early Church the Lord's 
Supper was considered a Eucharist ^ that is, a thank of- 
fering, a hostia laudis (a sacrifice of praise) — a phrase 
which occurs in the primitive portion of the Roman Mass. 
The bread and wine were offered in thanksgiving for the 
fruits of the earth, the means of physical life, as well as 
supremely for the divine grace — the spiritual food and 
sustenance of the life-giving sacrifice of Christ. St. 
Paul's analogy is the Passover feast (i Cor. 5 : 7), which, 
in its annual celebration, was both a Eucharist and also 
the appointed memorial of the covenant God made with 
Israel redeemed out of bondage in Egypt, even as the 
Church is redeemed from the bondage of sin through 
Christ. 

The offering of the one true sacrifice on the Cross of 
Calvary made an end of the old material sacrifices, and in 
their place came the spiritual sacrifices of the new Cove- 
nant. These sacrifices, the gifts of our substance, for the 
glory of God and the good of man, the sacrifice of praise 
and the living sacrifice or offering of body and soul to 
the service of God, all have a place in the ancient 
liturgies. Augustine and other fathers emphasise the 
last, as the solemn act, in which the Church not only 
commemorates the sacrifice of Christ, but continues it 
through her own offering of herself in self-devotion to 
God in the spirit and after the example of her Head who 
died for the world. 

A corartiemorative saoriflce.— The Lord's Supper may 
be called a commemorative sacrifice in the sense that it 
is the divinely appointed commemoration of the supreme 
sacrifice of Christ once for all. The Bread and Wine are 
offered to God as an oblation, that they may be " blest 
and sanctified by His Word and the Holy Spirit." But 
all idea of a sin-offering is ruled out by the ancient title 
" Holy Eucharist " as well as hy the fact that the sin- 



THE THEOLOGY OF THE CATECHISM 343 

offering was never eaten by the worshippers. Despite 
this fact, the Roman Church regards the Supper as an ex- 
piatory sacrifice. 

Clirist present in Spirit.—The Church leaves undefined 
the exact manner of the spiritual presence of Christ, but 
in general terms we may say that the Lord is present by 
His Covenant promise, in the worshipping Church cele- 
brating through the priest, her own representative, the 
appointed commemoration of His sacrifice for sins once 
offered. Christ Himself acts through the priest, also His 
representative, and feeds the Faithful at His table with 
spiritual food, through sacramental signs. 

" When at the Lord's Table the priest distributes the 
bread and wine to feed the body, we must think that in- 
wardly by faith we see Christ feeding both body and soul 
unto eternal hfe " (Cranmer). " Whatever was done at 
the Eucharist in His name, He was believed to be pres- 
ent and the doer of it from the beginning " (Bishop 
Gore). The consecrated elements are mystically the 
body and blood in that " they are the causes instrumental 
on the receipt whereof the participation of His sacrificial 
body and blood ensueth in the merit, force and virtue 
(/. e., grace) of His sacrifice, to all worthy recipients " 
(Hooker). As the Lord's Supper is the Christian Passover, 
the feast upon the sacrifice once offered by Christ, it 
follows as Bishop Andrewes says, that " we cannot 
celebrate the Sacrament unless we eat the feast." 

Conditions of a -worthy reception.— The Catechism 
and the Communion Exhortations teach clearly the con- 
ditions of a worthy reception of the Lord's Supper : Faith 
in Christ, charity toward all men, and repentance, with 
the sincere desire to Hve " the new life " of righteousness 
of which our Baptism is the promise and pledge. These 
conditions form •* the wedding garment " required at the 
King's Supper. 

The Church God's family.— It should never be for- 
gotten that the Lord's Supper is the Sacrament of the 



344 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHERS MANUAL 

body of Christ, the Church, and that we commune with 
each other in spiritual fellowship and love as truly as 
with our common Lord. It is the outer sign of the 
Communion of Saints, the living and the dead. 

The Church emphasises this corporate aspect in the 
rubric which, following the Lord's direction (St. Matt* 
5 : 22), declares that feelings of enmity and a hard un- 
forgiving spirit make a man unworthy to approach the 
table of the common Father and the loving Lord. 

This was a common theme with the early Church 
fathers, and it is strikingly expressed in an early formu- 
lary of the Church of England (1543) which uses a very 
early metaphor founded on St. Paul's words, " The bread 
which we break, is it not a communion of the Body of 
Christ, seeing that we who are many, are one bread (or 
loaf) and one body, for we all partake of the one 
bread ? " 

" And further, it is to be remembered that as in the 
receiving of the sacrament we have most entire com- 
munion with Christ, so be we also joined by the same 
in most perfect unity with His Church and all the 
members thereof. And for that cause amongst others 
this Sacrament was instituted of our Saviour Christ, in 
the form of bread, to signify the unity, concord, and 
charity that is between Christ, our head and His mystical 
body the Church and every part and member thereof, 
one with another. For as bread is made of many grains 
of corn, which all make but one loaf, so should all true 
Christian people, although many in number, yet be all 
one in faith and charity." 



Works on the Church Catechism 

The Church Catechism. Newbolt. Longmans Net $ 1.40 

A large and complete treatise more for the clergy than 
teachers. 
Class Book of the Catechism of the Church of England. Maclear, 

Macmillan Net .50 

Dry but accurate. 



THE THEOLOGY OF THE CATECHISM 345 

The Catechist's Handbook. Newland-Smith. Young Church- 
man Co Net 1.20 

Practical and well arranged. 
The Teaching of the Catechism. Ward. Longmans .... Net .60 

Admirable for lower grades. 
Church Catechism Explained. Robinson. Putnam Net ,50 

Suggestive on its own lines. 
The Point of Contact in Teaching. Du Bois. Dodd, Mead & Co. .75 

Training of the Twig. Drawbridge. Longmans 1.25 

The Teacher and the Child. Mark. Revel! Net .75 

These last three small books on the general subject of re- 
ligious teaching are most practical and suggestive. Teachers 
of all grades will do well to study them. 



X 

CHURCH GOVERNMENT 

BY THE 

Rt. Rev. Cameron Mann, D. D. 
Bishop of North Dakota 



CHURCH GOVERNMENT 

Christianity a Society. — Christianity is, above all else, 
a Society, — not an Idea, or a Book, or a Creed, or a Code, 
or a Cult. 

It is, or has, all these, — not as the possession or char- 
acteristic of separate individuals, but as those of an 
organisation, to which the individuals belong. 

♦' If Christianity had been a philosophy or a Hterature, 
or an aristocratic religion, a religion for a select few, 
raised above their fellows by power of intellect and 
thought, its great ideas might have been left to wander 
about the world, seeking and finding their homes in in- 
dividual minds. But Christianity was neither a phi- 
losophy nor an aristocratic religion. It was a kingdom, 
and a system of discipline and life for mankind. God 
provided a home for great religious ideas in an organised 
society, the Church, as He provided a home for great 
moral and political ideas, in an organised society, the 
State." 1 

The Apostles the First Church. — This is obvious in the 
New Testament account of the origin of Christianity. 
The Lord Jesus, during His three years' ministry, did not 
merely discourse to people in general. He selected and 
trained a special band of men ; He took them away from 
all other occupations ; He made them a peculiar organ- 
ism ; He gave them a distinctive title. These men were 
" the Twelve Apostles." 

Outside this circle stood many believers and adher- 

1 Dean Church, in Oxford House Papers^ Second Series, p. 67. 



350 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHERS MANUAL 

ents ; but they were in an unorganised condition. They 
listened, they followed, they prayed, they gave, — as feel- 
ing prompted and convenience suited. But they were 
bound by no formal tie. The Apostles were. They 
were ** chosen," " appointed " ; they had a common 
life and ministry ; they were the first phase of Christ's 
Church. 

Early Christian Church. — That Church enlarged 
rapidly. Out of the mass of unenrolled and unsettled 
disciples came those who confessed the new Faith and 
joined the new Society. There were some one hundred 
and twenty of them in Jerusalem. Thousands were re- 
ceived by the rite of baptism a few days later. These 
people became a Corporation. As such, the one hun- 
dred and twenty held an election. 

We follow the story on, through the Book of Acts and 
the Epistles, — and it is always the story of a Society. 
The very word •* Church " occurs over a hundred times ; — 
now designating the Christians of a city, now those of a 
province, now those of the whole world, now those of the 
ideal, — but always in the sense of a living Body. We 
read continuously of corporate acts of worship and legis- 
lation and discipHne. 

Primitive Government.— Such a Society must have a 
government ; it must have rules and rites and officers. 
There must be laws for its members, and persons to ad- 
minister those laws. 

The New Testament presents precisely such facts. 
There are official titles and actions on every page. Each 
of its Books is addressed, either to the whole Church, or 
to some subdivision of it, or to some individual member. 

So far as this goes, the Early Christian Church went 
along the lines inevitable to every human society. 

The Church Divine.— But that Church had one unique 
and tremendous distinction. It was immediately Divine 
in its origin ; — Divine in a way that even the State is 
not. It was not that certain men, holding a belief, de- 



CHURCH GOVERNMENT 351 

cided they would compose a Church, but that God es- 
tablished a Church. 

There is nothing parallel to this in all history. Even 
the Jewish Church came from God through patriarchs 
and prophets. But the God-Man Himself, by audible 
word and visible act, created the Christian Church. 

Therefore this Church is more than human ; there is a 
supernatural life in it ; it carries inalienable gifts of wis- 
dom and power. Some of its members may not avail 
themselves of these gifts, but the Body possesses them. 

Nevertheless, to a large degree, the Church is human 
and works in human ways. So its history is marked by 
the frailties and faults, as well as by the virtues, of 
humanity. 

The Form of Gk>vernment.--As has been said, such a 
society must have a government. But how was that 
shaped ? Was it prescribed in all its details by Jesus ? 
Is it laid down in the Scriptures, a pattern never to be 
altered ? 

Some have thought so ; — albeit they have widely dis- 
agreed about what the record shows as such pattern. 
They have found it hard to distinguish between the 
" presbyters " and *' bishops " in its pages ; and to make 
the functions of the " deacons " exactly such as deacons 
have had in later days. They have found it hard to dis- 
cern what was abiding, and what was temporary, in the 
list of " apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers." 

On the other hand, some have reckoned of the 
Primitive Church as a pure democracy, a multitude with- 
out a leader, which, at its own discretion and volition, 
established certain offices and selected certain officers. 

The truth lies midway between these views. The 
Church is both a Democracy and a Kingdom. To it, as 
a Body, were given the right and power of self-rule and 
of self-development. Yet its first rulers, and the law of 
succession, were appointed by its King. 

Bishop Westcott is quite correct in saying that " the 



352 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHEr's MANUAL 

Great Commission " was bestowed by our Lord upon the 
whole Church ; — when, in the Upper Room, on Easter 
evening, He breathed on them and said, " Receive ye the 
Holy Ghost." 1 

It was not only the Apostles who were thus ordained 
and endowed. Others, such as Cleopas and his comrade, 
— representing the rank and file of believers, — were in- 
cluded in the terms and assigned to the work and gifted 
with the power of that Commission. 

But, as Westcott goes on to say, " Provision was made 
during the Lord's earthly ministry for a special work of 
the Twelve ; and their work seems to have been further 
defined during the Forty Days." ^ They were placed over 
the Church as its spokesmen and rulers, to exercise the 
authority and perpetuate the life of the entire Body. 

Christ Appointed Rulers.~The arrangement was made, 
not by a vote of the disciples, but by the commandment 
of the Lord. This appears strikingly in the renewal of 
the commission to Simon Peter. The source of the Life 
of the Church in general is also the source of the Life of 
the Ministry in particular. Thus there is a divinely es- 
tablished and self-perpetuating Ministry, — as well as a 
" royal priesthood, a holy nation " of all Christians. 

The two are not incompatible, and need not clash. 
*« As the teaching function of the whole Church does not 
militate against a special order of teachers, so the priestly 
function of the whole does not militate against a special 
order of priests." ^ And so, I may add, the ruling func- 
tion of the whole does not miHtate against a special order 
of rulers. A society must perform its various functions 
through various officials. 

And, it cannot be denied, this differentiation, this as- 
signing special duties to a special class, is immensely 



* The Revelation of the Risen Lord, p. xix. 

2 Ibid., pp. xxi, xxii. 

8 W, Lock, in Lux Mundi, p. 393. 



CHURCH GOVERNMENT 353 

simpler and stronger, thus proceeding from the Lord, 
than it could have been had it arisen from the discussion 
and vote of His disciples. A ministry of such " Apos- 
tolic succession " is the one befitting a Church of Divine 
creation. 

It is thus that the Church is portrayed in the Book of 
Acts. There are the Apostles, and there are the People. 
The Apostles arrange for the continuance of the Church, 
but the People are admitted to, and take part in their 
councils. Even the filling of Judas's place is submitted 
to the vote of the whole membership. Yet, that place 
once filled, Matthias is *• numbered with the eleven Apos- 
tles " ; he is no longer a private citizen in the Kingdom. 

Later on we meet St. Paul, whose commission was 
singularly and supernaturally conferred. But it gave 
him a place in the Apostolic band with the same powers 
as belonged to St. Peter and St. John. 

Thus we behold, at the outset, the two classes of Chris- 
tians, the Clergy and the Laity, the Apostles and the 
Brethren. 

Development.— Presently new offices are needed ; the 
clerical functions must be divided. So the Seven Deacons 
are elected by the people, and ordained by the Apostles. 
Later on another office arises. The lower ministry 
divides into two, — possibly more, — classes ; there are 
Bishops, or Elders, or Presbyters, — these three titles ap- 
parently denoting one office, — and there are Deacons. 
We find other titles, such as those mentioned by St. Paul 
in the Epistle to the Ephesians ; and we find the "Angels" 
of the Seven Churches, in the Apocalypse. As the event 
proves, some of these offices were temporary ; — they faded 
out, or were absorbed. 

The New Testament Statement. —But four things are 
clear as to the period covered by the New Testament 
writings. 

(i) The Apostles ruled the Church, and by divine 
appointment. 



354 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHERS MANUAL 

(2) All new Apostles (Eph. 4: 11), and all subordi- 
nate officials, were ordained by the primitive authorities, 
and gained their commission from such ordination. 

(3) The whole body of Christians had a voice and 
vote in ecclesiastical affairs. 

(4) There was no single human Head to this Body, — 
no Supreme Man on earth.^ 

The Church in the Second Century .^ — The testimony 
of the next age is to the same effect. Some changes of 
nomenclature may be noticed ; — " Bishop " succeeds to 
" Apostle," and " Presbyter " has a more limited sense. 
But there is unanimous consent as to the ministerial suc- 
cession. 

Thus, Clement of Rome speaks for all when he says of 
the Apostles, " So preaching everywhere in country and 
town, they appointed their first fruits to be bishops and 
deacons unto them that should believe. And afterward 
they provided a continuance, that if these should fall 
asleep other approved men should succeed to their 
ministry." ^ 

Indeed, it is almost universally admitted that the 
Church of the Second Century was fully organised, with 
a threefold ministry, claiming Apostolic succession. Our 
Ordinal is quite justified in its assertion that " it is evi- 
dent unto all men, diligently reading Holy Scripture and 
ancient Authors that from the Apostles' times there have 
been these orders of Ministers in Christ's Church, — 
Bishops, Priests, and Deacons." 

I see no need of discussing the distinction sometimes 
drawn between " order " and " office." Most Roman 
writers regard Bishops and Priests as merely two offices 
in one order. This is to exalt the Pope as the one 
Bishop, the Universal Apostle. In that sense it must be 
repudiated as unscriptural and unprimitive. 



1 Peter and John were sent to Samaria, Acts 8 : 14. 

2 Epistle to the Corinthians, Chaps. 42, 44. 



CHURCH GOVERNMENT 355 

But it is quite possible to view Bishops and Priests, — 
and Deacons also, — as only different grades in the one 
Order of the Clergy ; — or to go farther, and view Clergy 
and Laity as only the two grades in the one order of 
Christians. 

All this would not destroy the fact that any office, 
once created in the Church, has its functions, and that no 
one not properly inducted into that office should exercise 
those functions. 

When the Bishops were consecrated to ordain, the 
right of ordaining was withdrawn from, — if it had ever 
belonged to, — the Presbyters. And it cannot revert to 
them except by formal act of the Church. It is theo- 
retically possible to allow all Presbyters to ordain, — that 
is to make each of them a Bishop. But until this is 
done, — no matter what a Presbyter may have been 
allowed in some past age, — the modern Presbyter has 
not the power of ordination. 

Therefore, our present form of Church Government, — 
so far as concerns the ministry, — with its three ranks and 
its historic succession, — would stand unshaken, even were 
it possible, — which it is not, — to prove that the primitive 
Church was ruled in a different way. For the Church 
Catholic can make its own rules and amend them, so 
long as the amendments do not oppose the essentials of 
her constitution. 

Catholicity and Nationality.— Two of these essentials 
as to Church Government are Catholicity and Nationality. 
The Church is one ; — and yet there are many Churches. 
In orthodox belief and sacramental life there can be only 
one Body. There is only one Baptism, one Eucharist, 
one Lord, one Creed. 

But, for the myriad matters of worship and discipline, 
the Church Catholic is, and always has been, subdivided. 
The subdivisions are along racial and national lines. 
Even when the Roman Empire was the solitary State for 
civilised men, the Christians in that Empire had their 



356 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER's MANUAL 

various Provincial Churches. In the first century we 
read of the Church of Jerusalem, and of Rome, and of 
Corinth, and of Ephesus. 

In the second century we greet the Church of North 
Africa, and of Egypt, and of Gaul. 

Far down the years, — despite the usurpations of the 
papacy in the West, — there are the Churches of England, 
of France, of Spain, — not to speak of the Russian and 
other Oriental Churches. 

" The writers of the Middle Ages themselves accu- 
rately distinguish between the Roman Church and the 
National Churches which were in communion with it." ^ 
At the Council of Constance, a. D. 14 17, the votes were 
taken by nations. 

The position, held by our own Church, of independence 
and self-rule, — as long as the Faith enunciated, and the 
Sacraments celebrated, and the Ministry continued, and 
the Scriptures revered, are those of the Church Catholic, 
— is reasonable and primitive. 

Place of the Laity. — Another principle evident in the 
Church's life and rule needs mention. That is the par- 
ticipation of the Laity in the ecclesiastical government. 
This is no novelty, though there have been periods when 
it was obscured. We find Laymen present at the 
Apostolic Council in Jerusalem.^ In the next century 
TertuUian's assertion of the powers of the Laity, — though 
exaggerated,: — rests on a solid basis of settled custom. 
A little later we find Callistus, Bishop of Rome, and 
Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage, consulting the Laity as to 
questions of discipline. 

Laymen were present at all the General Councils, and 
influenced their decrees. So that John Keble does not 
hesitate to ascribe to the Laity " a kind of veto, even in 
the most vital case of fundamental doctrine, on the de- 



1 Eagar, Christendom Ecclesiastical atid Political^ p. 291. 
' Acts 15 : 12, 22. 



CHURCH GOVERNMENT 357 

cision of a General Council." And he says it is not 
** prima facie essential at what stage in the discussion 
that voice is permitted to be heard." ^ 

When all Europe was professedly Christian, and the 
Church and State were simply the two aspects of the one 
civic Hfe, there was undue assertion of lay influence, re- 
torted to by undue assertion of clerical influence. Kings 
and Nobles clashed with Bishops and Priests. And the 
Papacy found an opportunity for interference with the 
affairs of the Nation. 

The English Beformation.— With the Reformation there 
came a full return to the primitive custom. There was 
recognised and sustained the Historic Ministry, with its 
charge of teaching and worship and discipline. But the 
Laity had their voice through the Sovereign and Parlia- 
ment, — which latter was, when dealing with religious af- 
fairs, the Lay-Synod of the Church of England. Each 
of its members was a communicant. 

The rise of sects and heresies drawing off many people 
from the English Church, and even from all Christianity, 
makes the Reformation settlement illogical now in that 
country. To speak of the present Parliament as the 
" Lay-Synod " of the English Church is absurd ; and that 
it should be permitted to legislate as such is iniquitous. 

In the United States.— In the United States the con- 
ditions are, in some respects, novel and unprecedented. 
Our national Hfe is of a kind the world never saw before. 
The State is not, and never has been formally Christian, — 
though most of its people are. Christianity, — in the 
sense of a Church Catholic, — is no part of the laws or in- 
stitutions of the land. The laity do not speak or act as 
Churchmen, through the legislatures or the courts. The 
American citizen is, as such, of no religion. Here, where 
all faiths and cults, not plainly immoral, are tolerated and 
protected, the Church of Christ is a purely Voluntary 

* Quoted in Bright's Some Aspects of Primitive Church Life^ pp. 94, 95. 



358 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER's MANUAL 

Institution ; — it is left to make its own rules and adminis- 
ter its own discipline, unhelped and unhindered by the 
civil authorities. 

Those men, then, who established " The Protestant 
Episcopal Church in the United States of America," had 
a clear stage to act on. They were Christians, members, 
by their baptism, of the Holy CathoHc Church. They 
were men who had been communicants of the Church of 
England, and who loved her doctrine and ritual. They 
were distinctly AngHcan in their literature and law. 

These men proceeded to do what they had full right 
and power to do, — to establish a National Church. Not, 
of course, a State Church, not a Church of the majority 
of the people ; but a Church which, having all the requi- 
sites for a Branch of the Church Catholic, — the Bible, 
Creed, Sacraments, and Holy Orders, — determined to 
hve its own life in this land. 

So the new Church had its birth. It may be justly 
styled a National, or the American Church, — since it is 
such, as is no other Christian Body of this country. 

For it holds to that English language and literature and 
law, which are the main elements in our national life ; it 
is the only Church which neither obeys a foreign author- 
ity nor claims a foreign sway ; it is the only Church 
which regards nothing as vital to its existence,— outside 
of primitive faith and order, — except its nationahty. 
That is, it stands for Catholicity and Americanism, — 
these two. 

When this Church organised, a notable feature adopted 
in its government was the frank recognition of the Laity 
as entitled to voice and vote. 

Certain matters, of course, lie outside their sphere. No 
action of theirs can confer or take away the powers given 
by Apostolic ordination. No action of theirs, — nor of 
the Clergy, — can alter the Sacraments and Creeds and 
the Bible. 

But, in all that may be styled the " domestic economy 



CHURCH GOVERNMENT 359 

of the Church," the Laymen have equal share with the 
Clergymen. They sit in the Conventions, Diocesan and 
General ; they have a part in the election of all officers, 
and in the enactment of all laws. 

In this our Church is obedient to the great commis- 
sion of Christ, and the example of the Apostolic Age. 

Self-rule.— Again let it be recognised that each autono- 
mous Church has full authority to arrange all details of 
government for itself, — regardless of what other Churches 
have done in the past. So long as the essentials of 
Catholicity are retained, the powers of Nationality are 
unlimited. 

Of course, the precedents of the past have immense 
value ; they should be reverently studied ; they often set- 
tle the question. But they are not irresistibly binding. 

This Episcopal Church has constructed its own Legisla- 
ture and Code. It was privileged to do so. And it 
presents a system of government of people and priests, 
by people and priests, for people and priests, — such as, I 
believe, combines human freedom and Divine authority 
to a degree unequalled elsewhere in modern Christendom. 

The Prayer Book.— This system of legislation and ad- 
ministration is set forth in the Book of Common Prayer, 
in the Constitution and in the Canons. 

Of these the Prayer Book ranks highest ; — for its main 
contents are what the Church has reverently received 
from the past. 

The Prayer Book ordains that the Ministry of this 
Church " shall consist of Bishops, Priests, and Deacons " ; 
and sets forth the manner of their ordination. It pro- 
vides for the celebration of sacraments, and the conduct 
of public worship. It establishes rules of discipline. 

The whole of the Prayer Book is law. Its statements 
and directions are obligatory. They may sometimes 
need interpretation ; — a literal obedience may sometimes 
be impossible ; — a loyal common sense must be exercised. 
But the book is law for Clergy and Laity. 



360 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER's MANUAL 

The Constitution.— Next to the Prayer Book stands the 
Constitution, — as adopted in the General Convention of 
1789, and amended in subsequent General Conventions. 
In the strictest sense, this document is not the constitution 
of our Church. That is found in the Commission given 
by our Lord, in His Ordination of the Ministry, in His 
Gift of the Sacraments, in His Bestowal of the Holy 
Spirit. Upon this foundation the Church stands. No 
bishop, priest, deacon, or layman, derives his Christian 
rights and powers from the Constitution of 1789. 

That is simply the Constitution of the General Con- 
vention and of the Federation of Dioceses for which that 
Convention is the legislative body. For most practical 
purposes, however, it may be spoken of as the Church's 
Constitution, in accordance with whose provisions the 
corporate work goes on. 

The Government of the Church.— The communi- 
cants of the Church are grouped in Dioceses, — each 
covering a definite territory and having a Bishop. These 
Dioceses are composed of Clergy and Laity, — the latter 
usually forming Parishes or Congregations. 

All this is for purposes of convenience ; it is the whole 
people who make up the Church, — irrespective of where 
they chance to live. 

Each Diocese has its own Convention or Council which 
legislates for its pecuHar needs. All such legislation must 
be subject and accordant to the higher legislation of the 
General Convention. 

The General Convention is composed of two bodies, — 
the House of Bishops, and the House of Deputies. The 
first comprises all the Bishops of this Church, — except 
those who have resigned their jurisdiction without good 
cause. The second is made up of four Clerical and four 
Lay delegates chosen from each Diocese. Of course the 
number can be changed at any time by proper process. 
This General Convention is the absolute authority for the 
Episcopal Church. Therefore all its procedure is care- 



CHURCH GOVERNMENT 36 1 

fully guarded. No important action can be had without 
the consent of a majority of the Bishops, and a 
majority of the Clerical and Lay Deputies. And when 
the question is one of altering the Prayer Book or the 
Constitution, it must be approved by two successive Gen- 
eral Conventions. 

Provision is made by the Constitution for the creation 
of Missionary Districts, foreign and domestic, and the ap- 
pointment of Bishops thereto. Such Districts are allowed 
one Clerical and one Lay representative in the Conven- 
tion ; — but these have no vote upon the most important 
matters. 

All Bishops, except those for Missionary Districts, 
must be elected by the Convention of the Diocese, which 
election must be confirmed by a majority of all the 
Bishops, and a majority of all the Dioceses. 

New Dioceses may be created only with the consent of 
the General Convention ; and must have at least six 
Parishes and six resident Presbyters ; — and also a suitable 
provision for the support of the Diocesan. 

Missionary Districts in the United States, — except 
when formed out of Dioceses, — are established by the 
House of Bishops. 

The Constitution orders that in every Diocese and 
District there shall be a Standing Committee, which acts 
as a Council of Advice to the Bishop, — and, in case of 
his absence or death, is the Ecclesiastical Authority. 

No person can be made Priest or Deacon without hav- 
ing been examined by the Bishop and two Priests, and 
having formally professed his belief in Holy Scripture, 
and having promised conformity to the Doctrine, Disci- 
pline, and Worship of the Protestant Episcopal Church 
in the United States of America. 

The Bishop oldest in office is the Presiding Bishop ; but 
his functions are mainly formal. 

The General Canons.— The Canons are a code of laws 
regulating the ordinary worship and discipline, 



362 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER's MANUAL 

They prescribe how men shall be admitted to the 
various grades of Holy Orders ; the duties of all ordained 
Ministers ; the offences for which they may be tried, and 
the punishments which may be inflicted. In the case of 
Bishops they formulate the whole procedure of trial and 
sentence. The Canons make careful order that marriages 
shall be duly solemnised ; and forbid the marriage of any 
divorced person, except " the innocent party in a divorce 
for adultery " — even in this case a year's delay is required. 
In the case of other divorced persons contracting new 
marriages the sacraments are refused to both the parties 
to such marriage. 

The Canons define a '' Standard Bible " and a " Stand- 
ard Book of Common Prayer." They make rules as to 
Sunday Celebration, Church Music, and Church Property. 

They provide for the commissioning of men as Lay 
Readers, and of women as Deaconesses. 

They arrange for the carrying on of the missionary 
work and for the pensioning of the Clergy. 

They provide Courts of Review to hear appeals from 
the verdicts of Diocesan Courts. 

These Canons may be repealed, amended, or added to, 
at any General Convention. 

Diocesan Legislation.— Below the General Constitu- 
tion and Canons are those of the various Dioceses and 
Districts. 

It is impossible here even to summarise the peculiari- 
ties of these. But their enactments are null and void if 
they contravene those of the General Convention. 

Summary.— Such, briefly stated, are the principles and 
chief details of the Government of the Protestant 
Episcopal Church in the United States of America. 

It is, in the fullest sense, a democratic government ; — 
for all its citizens have a voice in it ; they choose their 
own officers and legislators. Whatever powers may be- 
long to a Bishop, it is only through the suffrages of the 
Clergy and Laity that any particular man wields those 



CHURCH GOVERNMENT 363 

powers. And in all synodal and individual action the 
Bishops must conform to rules which they did not solely 
create ; — they are as really governed as they are govern - 
ors. 

Yet, through their Divine office, — coming from Christ's 
institution and along clear historic lines, — there is given 
to the Church a government which makes it totally dif- 
ferent from any self-constituted association of Christians. 



Books for Reference and Study 

The Christian Ministry in the New Testament. Eagar. S. P. C. K. 

London Net I/6 

An Introduction to the Study of Ecclesiastical Polity. Seabury. 

Crothers Net $ 1.50 

A Handbook of the General Convention. Perry 

Church Law of the Protestant Episcopal Church — Its Sources and 
Scope. Andrews 

Lectures on Apostolic Succession in the Church of England. Sea- 
bury. Crothers Net .75 

Anglican Orders and Jurisdiction. Denny. S. P. C. K. London. 3/ 

Enghsh Orders. Smith. Skeffington. London 



XI 

CHRISTIAN DEFENSE 

OR APOLOGETICS 

BY THE 

Rev. William Porcher DuBose, M. A., LL. D. 

Dean of the Theological Department i?i the 
University of the Southy Sewanee, Tenn. 



XI 

CHRISTIAN DEFENSE 
OR APOLOGETICS 

I PROPOSE only two things as possible within the scope 
of this article. The first is to establish something of a 
general and tenable attitude toward all present-day 
criticism of Christianity. The second shall be to suggest 
an apologetic or answer which it will be in the power of 
us all to make our own and apply personally and actively 
in defence of our common Christianity. 

I. The Problem 

An indispensable preliminary. — We need not under- 
take to answer questions about Christianity until we are 
in an attitude to understand them and in a temper to do 
them justice. To treat all questioning or criticism of 
Christianity as hostile attacks is an initial error fatal to 
any real answer to it. In order to place ourselves in a 
radical right relation to the whole business of modern 
criticism, we shall have to go so far back as to revise and 
revolutionise our entire popular conception of it. We 
shall have to learn to recognise under the forbidding 
guise of criticism and even of skepticism, the aspect of 
friends and not enemies to the truth we love. Let us 
remember how prone we are in the most every-day 
matters to reverse the truth as to good and evil ; to rebel 
against that which is best for us and crave what is worst. 
It may seem a thing to be deplored that the one most 
intimate and sacred treasure of our religious faith may 
not be left in peace and security ; that Christianity must 
expend so much of its thought and energy upon the 
vindication of its bare right to exist. But would that 



368 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER's MANUAL 

kind of rest or peace be desirable ? What possession 
have we worth holding — especially" what free, spiritual, 
personal possession : life, liberty, or happiness ; mind, 
character, or standing — that we have not to preserve with 
all our diligence and defend with all our might ? The 
trials, dangers, and pains to which our faith is unceas- 
ingly exposed, are themselves, so far from evils, the very 
conditions, occasions, and ministers of faith. A Hfe or 
a faith that is independent of labour, danger, and pain ; 
that is not the fruit of toil and strife and the meed of 
victory, has nothing in common with that of Jesus 
Christ. 

Modern skepticism and criticism. — It cannot, of 
course, be denied that the rise of modern skepticism 
and criticism has given swift and wide occasion for their 
employment against Christianity by enemies and ob- 
jectors of every sort. Possibly even a larger part of so- 
called skepticism and criticism may be only the expres- 
sion of learned enmity or malicious ignorance. I admit 
the natural and deep provocation to look upon all doubt 
and questioning of Christianity as hostile attacks upon 
it. But nothing absolves us from the high and difficult 
duty of recognising the appearance and welcoming the 
application of a true principle, and of a right and wise 
discrimination between its use and its abuse. And it is 
the use and not the abuse of doubt and investigation 
with which we need to be concerning ourselves. How- 
ever painful and offensive to us at the time, there is noth- 
ing in the end to be feared from any form of ignorant 
and mahcious, or of unfair and untrue, no matter how 
subtle or able, skepticism and criticism. But the only 
way in the world to escape the false applications of a 
principle is to face and accept its true workings. There 
is no escape from the errors of any real movement but 
in honest alliance with its truth. And there is a great 
truth in the things which we just now ignorantly and 
cowardly most deprecate and fear. 



CHRISTIAN DEFENSE 369 

The origin and meaning of the t"wo words. — The origin 
and meaning of the two objectionable terms and things 
of which I have spoken is this : SkepsiSj our Greek Lexicon 
informs us, is examination, investigation, inquiry into, 
etc. Skepticism may be an extreme or abuse of the 
spirit of inquiry and investigation ; but if so, it is the 
abuse of a good thing, and a thing which in its use can- 
not possibly be carried too far. Let us accept it not only 
as a fact but as a right and a great fact, that this age is 
an age of investigation and of verification. If anything 
survives this age and comes out of it accepted, it is going 
to be because it has a reason for survival and acceptance 
and because it is able and willing to prove its reason and 
to establish its right. To complain or be afraid of being 
put to the proof is weakness and faithlessness. Krisis is 
the proper and only instrument of skepsis. There can 
be no thorough investigation or verification except 
through separation, discrimination, analysis, testing, prov- 
ing, trying, deciding, judging. Let us not suppose that 
criticism, and spiritual, reHgious criticism, has come into 
the world illegitimately, or that it has not the divinest of 
missions and tasks to perform in it. For criticism and 
separation and judgment, said our Lord, am I come into 
the world. He came with His winnowing fan in His 
hand, and is critical not only of the thoughts and intents 
of our hearts but of the deepest principles and foun- 
dations of our lives. 

Christianity the great critic and final judge. — Chris- 
tianity is itself the great critic and final judge, and if it 
cannot itself endure criticism and judgment, it discredits 
itself in its own function and condemns itself at its own 
bar. No one will charge that the critical spirit, prior to 
its application to the sphere of religion, was in the world 
with evil intent, or that its initial and essential motive 
was other than the testing and proving and verification 
of truth and the exposure and correction of error. What 
has it accomplished, or what has it not accomplished, 



370 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER's MANUAL 

outside of its application to religion and Christianity? 
Skepsis and krisis were mighty implements and instru- 
ments applied by the modern spirit of truth to every- 
thing under the sun, and everywhere there followed a 
great severing and separation of true from false, of right 
from wrong, of good from bad. Now principles and 
processes which in everything and everywhere else 
wrought so much good could have had no essentially evil 
intention and could not have become altogether bad 
when they came to be applied to the highest truth and 
to the best good. The first step in our right attitude is 
to know that skepticism and criticism were as necessary 
as they were inevitable when they came, and that they 
had a divine mission and task to perform as well in the 
realm of spiritual as in that of natural truth and life. 
Our appeal in behalf of Christianity is from ignorant or 
inimical or wrong judgment ; not to no criticism or 
judgment at all, but to fair and competent judgment. 
Let us believe that in itself judgment means justice, in- 
vestigation means truth, verification means confirmation 
and establishment, not hostility and destruction. 

What we have the right to demand.— What we have 
the right to demand in all questions of Christianity is a 
judgment qualified and competent to deal with spiritual 
as well as natural evidence. Constituted and placed as 
we are, in a world which is like ourselves at once natural 
and spiritual, we cannot but be confronted with experi- 
ences of a mixed natural and spiritual character, and it 
requires faculties of both sorts to deal with them. There 
is no science or philosophy worthy the name that denies 
the possibility of there being, and being in actual correla- 
tion with what we call nature, a higher order of things 
that transcends nature. Natural knowledge can go no 
further than to question whether there is sufficient 
evidence or verification of such a superior system of 
things, or of its being in any actual vital relation with 
our natural experience. If at any point the higher or 



CHRISTIAN DEFENSE 3/1 

spiritual order comes into such relation with the lower or 
natural, as to seem, upon evidence or testimony, other- 
wise sufficient, to supersede and replace the ordinary- 
operation, as in the wholly exceptional case of the virgin 
birth or the bodily resurrection of our Lord, this would 
indeed be a miracle in the extreme sense of the term, if 
nature were all ; but it would not be so upon the sup- 
position involved, — namely, that it was the rational and 
significant entrance and evidence in nature of a higher 
operation. The question that then arose would not be 
one of purely natural probability. To make it such 
would be to assume the non-existence of the higher 
order and operation. The true question would be 
whether the spiritual probability is sufficient to outweigh 
the natural probabihty. What we want, then, for a full 
and right judgment in the matter, is not only qualifica- 
tion and competence to weigh the natural improbabilities 
involved, but equal ability to appreciate and estimate the 
spiritual meanings and reasons and probabihties on the 
other side. Once admit even the possibility of a 
spiritual order both immanent in and transcending the 
natural order, and such a phenomenon as Christianity, 
and religion in general, is lifted above the issue of merely 
natural cause and effect. As against the improbability 
of such a dual order of experience in human life, we 
ought to remember that so far as we are concerned, the 
spiritual order would be impossible except in combina- 
tion and correlation with such a natural order. A 
sphere of freedom and personality at all is possible only 
in connection with one of physical or natural necessity 
and uniformity. 

It comes then to this : the question of Christianit}^ as 
a spiritual phenomenon, the spiritual phenomenon of the 
world ; of Christianity as in its essence an incarnation, 
that is to say, the consummate presence and operation of 
the spiritual in the natural ; above all, of Christianity as 
a spiritual operation or process at certain most significant 



372 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHERS MANUAL 

and vital points or moments modifying or superseding 
the ordinary natural operations or processes ; — this whole 
question of the supreme contact and correlation of the 
spiritual with the natural becomes more and more one of 
spiritual rather than merely natural probability or im- 
probability. And the modern disposition to deal with it 
on purely or predominantly natural, historical or 
scientific, grounds, is what we have not merely to object 
to or protest against, but to supplement and correct by a 
spiritual science competent to the task. 

Let us illustrate, by an example, the point of competence 
for the criticism of spiritual facts. Probably no English 
thinker was ever better qualified to weigh the natural 
improbability of a human resurrection from the dead 
than the philosopher Hume. So improbable was such 
an event that Hume assumed that no testimony or 
evidence on the other side could possibly outweigh it. 
Was Hume qualified or competent to weigh the 
probabilities on the other side ? With him it was only 
the question of the resurrection of a man. What con- 
ception had he in the argument of Who the man was, or 
of what was the eternal significance of that resurrection ? 
We hold that these were vital factors in the determina- 
tion of the question of probability or improbability, and 
that no man is prepared to give the answer but one who 
speaks out of the fullest Christian knowledge of Who 
Christ is, and out of the fullest Christian experience of 
what His resurrection means. For Christians to turn 
over the decision of these questions to the conclusions of 
physical or natural reasoning only, is to surrender the 
rightful claims of that side of our nature and life to which 
these facts of the spirit belong. On the contrary, let a 
man know the spiritual history of the race and the 
spiritual facts of his own nature ; let him have grown to 
an adequate conception and experience of the truth 
embodied in the person and work of Jesus Christ and 
imparted to himself by personal relation and communion 



CHRISTIAN DEFENSE 373 

with Him ; let a man be so spiritually equipped, and al- 
though he be also at the same time the best endowed and 
qualified of natural skeptics and critics, yet in him the 
spiritual credibility of all the facts necessarily involved in 
the truth of our Lord's person and work will infinitely 
outweigh all their natural incredibility. Hume's once 
seemingly unanswerable arguments had and have mean- 
ing and pertinence only for those to whom the natural is 
all ; they have none for those who are capable of weigh- 
ing the meaning, the reason, the necessity of spiritual 
things. Skepticism does not go now the full length of 
Hume. No one holds that an incarnation or a resurrec- 
tion is an inherently or essentially impossible or incredible 
thing. The question is one only of the sufficiency of 
the reason and the adequacy of the evidence. These we 
have to furnish from a better understanding and a deeper 
experience of the rightful claims and the evidential pos- 
sibihties of the spirit. 

The difficulty with apologetics in general. — The dif- 
ficulty with apologetics in general is that now again, as 
in the earlier ages when the faith of Christianity found 
catholic expression, critical thought has been carried to 
the point where it can be met only by an apologetic 
which is itself a science and an art. So subtle, search- 
ing, and thorough are not alone the hostile attacks but 
the honest tests and proofs to which Christianity is con- 
tinuously subjected, that it is driven to justify, defend, or 
confirm its credibility and truth by a method and with a 
skill at least equal to that with which it is assailed. 
Nothing in the course of human thought has surpassed 
the delicacy, dexterity, and exactness with which Chris- 
tian truth at the first defined and defended itself against 
every conceivable false conception and false expression. 
And the time has come when it shall have to recall and 
renew its ancient power of self-comprehension and its 
ancient skill of self-presentation, if it would hold its own 
in the arena of the present. It will not suffice it to have 



374 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHERS MANUAL 

been once proved and approved ; it must be capable of 
always anew proving and approving itself to the ques- 
tionings of each new age. And it is no disadvantage to 
it to have always to answer for and give an account of 
itself 

It is of the very essence of an incarnation that it is an 
entrance of the supernatural or the divine into natural 
experience, into human history and human literature. 
It is impossible but that this should involve some modifi- 
cation or breach of the common in the course and in the 
records of human history. This brings Christianity legit- 
imately under the scrutiny of scientific, historical, and 
literary criticism with regard to the facts involved. These 
must be subject to the necessity of verification, with only 
one distinct condition from the spiritual side : the possi- 
bility or probability of the supernatural or divine in the 
case must not be ipso facto excluded. On the other 
hand, the sufficiency of meaning, reason, or necessity on 
the spiritual side to establish a probability, the true nodus 
dignus deo, is equally necessary to the furtherance of any 
such claim. 

The general apologetics of the present, so far as it has 
to meet the outward questionings of physical and meta- 
physical science, of literary and historical criticism, must 
largely remain in the hands of the experts, and conse- 
quently of the very few. I think we may safely leave it 
there, with the expectation that there will not be lacking 
the best expert attention to the high spiritual interests at 
issue. The zeal and devotion, the diligence and watch- 
fulness, the learning, skill and genius of the defenders of 
Christianity are not going to lag behind those of its op- 
ponents. Truth will continue to be mighty and prevail ; 
hatred or ignorance of it, falsehood or error, will not palm 
itself off permanently upon the acceptance and consent of 
humanity. The worst symptom of our Christianity is the 
faithless fear we show of everything which in succession 
questions or doubts or tries it. If we will but take care 



CHRISTIAN DEFENSE 375 

of our own faith, God will take care of His truth. Only- 
let us be very sure that our faith is fixed upon His truth. 
There is no greater injury to Christianity, no truer 
cause of its offence to much of the best thought and life 
of the world, than the weak and ignorant attitude that so 
many of us assume toward the legitimate function and 
benefaction of right criticism. The great multitude of 
us, not only holders but teachers of Christianity, are in- 
capable and should not be ashamed to confess ourselves 
incapable of passing judgment or laying down conclusions 
upon many of the critical questions and controversies of 
the day. Of all the sciences that have tested the faculties 
of man, true criticism is the most difficult and dehcate, 
the most dependent upon special gifts as well as upon 
consummate discipHne and training. It seems to require 
almost the development of a new sense and the exercise 
of faculties not yet common to us all. Like other subtle 
and obscure sciences it doubtless furnishes a good field 
for imposture and charlatanry. Christianity cannot but 
be conscious of the manifest spiritual incompetence of 
very many who presume to pass judgment upon predom- 
inantly spiritual facts. But for all that, we had better 
possess our souls and hold our peace upon matters which 
we are as Kttle competent, on the other side, to speak of. 
The truth will raise up for itself those who are competent 
on both sides, and at any rate prejudice and passion can 
never otherwise than injure or compromise its cause. 

II. The Answer 
The supreme apologetic. — Having divested ourselves, 
not of the duty of proper interest or intelligence in the 
matter, but of responsibility for, or (I think we shall 
show) dependence upon, the great mass of the more 
learned or expert controversy of the day, let us turn our 
mind to the apologetic which is infinitely the most im- 
portant of all, a science which we may all acquire and 
apply, and upon which, after all, the present and the fu- 



376 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER'S MANUAL 

ture of Christianity most depend. Christianity makes 
its real appeal to the common sense and the universal ex- 
perience. At the first not many of the wise or powerful 
or learned were called to it ; but the weak and the foolish 
of this world who were its first representatives, were able 
to prove to the world of their day that it is the wisdom 
and the power of God. The ultimate burden of proof is 
upon us still, and although we may never solve all the 
difficulties that beset the correlation of the spiritual with 
the natural, yet we can take that first step from which in 
due time all the rest will come. We can find an evidence 
sufficient to convince ourselves of the reality, the power, 
the actual effects and results in us of our Christianity. 
When we have fully convinced ourselves, we shall have 
done that which will best and most certainly convince 
others. 

Authority and human experience. — The difficulty 
with Christianity in these days is less than ever from the 
direction of physical science. The philosophy of evolu- 
tion is all on the side of the higher spiritual destiny of 
man along the lines of Christianity. From both sides, 
physical and spiritual, there is a drawing together to- 
ward a better interpretation and understanding of the 
so-called miraculous in religion. Between the natural 
and the supernatural, in the true sense of a lower and a 
higher or a further natural, it will eventually be seen that 
there is no real conflict. The battle rages now almost 
exclusively upon the field or ground oi authority in re- 
ligion. Has Christianity still and always to make good 
its claims at the bar of human experience and proof, or 
does it rest them properly only upon a Divine authority, 
vested, say, in the Bible or the Church or both ? 

The above alternatives are not necessarily exclusive of 
each other. There may be a very real and high author- 
ity both of the Bible and of the Church, and yet these 
may not be independent of the added seal upon them of 
human experience. Of course such a thing is inconceiv- 



CHRISTIAN DEFENSE yjj 

able as a Divine authority for that which is not true ; 
but, on the other hand, is it not equally inconceivable 
that any authority whatever could permanently fix upon 
humanity as its true meaning and function and end that 
which is not so in reahty ? That then which has even 
so high authority as Christianity must be subject to the 
prior condition that it is true to the truest human expe- 
rience. 

Christianity has no ground for fear that there will be 
any reasonable demand upon it to surrender the principle 
of external authority, or to cease to reverence and respect 
the true bases of this to which it has been accustomed 
from the beginning. Authority may be better under- 
stood and more rationally and rightly exercised, but it 
will lose nothing from a freer and a higher reverence and 
obedience. Truly Christian students and scholars will 
always more and more know for themselves that there is 
a Divine authority in the Scriptures for all the fullness of 
their faith in Jesus Christ. How the Scriptures are inspired 
may always be an open question ; of the truth of their in- 
spiration there will be no question in the heart of Christian 
life or of Christian scholarship. That there is a Divine 
authority not only in the Bible but in the Church need 
be as little as the other any matter of doubt in the minds 
of Christians themselves. As a matter of fact, the faith 
of Christendom is the faith of the Church, and not that 
of individuals, even the most learned, the most gifted, or 
the most spiritual. It is the resultant of the organic life 
and thought of the body, the common sense and consent 
of the whole, and not the mind or wisdom of the members 
or the parts. There is a natural as well as a Divine 
ground for the authority of the Church, a natural as well 
as a spiritual reason in the fact that our Lord's promises 
of truth and perpetuity were made to the Church and not 
to individuals. 

But however real or sufficient the principle of authority 
may be for us who acknowledge it, it plays almost no 



378 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER'S MANUAL 

part in the mind or life of the world to-day. A positive 
and absolute external authority was a fact and may have 
been a necessity in the past ; and the time is destined by 
truth and propriety in the future, when a reasonable, real, 
historic and corporate authority, an authority of organic 
consent over the vagaries and diversities of pure in- 
dividualism, a principle of unity in infinite diversity, will 
reaffirm itself on better foundations in our Christianity. 

Authority in abeyance. — Authority, as a working 
principle or a practical means to anything like actual 
universalit}^ or catholicity, is for the present at least in 
temporary abeyance. If this be so, may there not be 
Divine as well as natural reasons why it should be so ? 
There are dangers, let us remember, in the undisputed 
control over our minds and consciences of external 
authority, even when it is the most reasonable and the 
most moderate. Under its prevalence truth and right 
come to be with us mere matters of external fact, quite 
independent of their reason in themselves or of their 
essential and necessary relation to ourselves. Is there 
not need from time to time that this blind or dead kind 
of acceptance or acquiescence should be broken up and a 
new and better kind of assent and valuation set up in us ? 
What if God, in a time like this, should withdraw from 
His Truth and His Life in the world the outward prop 
and stay of preternatural attestation, and should leave 
them to stand alone upon their own inherent right and 
power to stand? Is not that faith a better faith which 
has not been allowed to rest upon the external fact that 
even God Himself has pronounced its truth to be truth, 
but has been brought and has come to rest in it because 
it is the truth, and because itself has proved and found 
and knows it to be the truth ? There is a wide and deep 
principle in this which needs much dwelling upon. If we 
recall the history and growth of human knowledge of all 
kinds in the world, we shall see that truth is ever tran- 
scending and surviving not only its changing forms but 



CHRISTIAN DEFENSE 379 

its temporary proofs and disproofs. Truth, in the long 
run, is not beHeved because it has been proved, but be- 
cause it is true. The most important truth of all, that 
of human freedom and personahty, can be neither 
scientifically proved nor disproved. It is theoretically 
very much doubted, and practically not at all so. That 
truth and faith are practically independent of formal 
proofs is recognised by science in the importance it at- 
taches to the principle of persistence. On that principle 
alone the most diverse forms of modern skeptical thought 
agree in not excluding religion as a permanent fact and 
a necessary factor in human life. 

The needed form of Apologetic. — Without then at 
all meaning to surrender what is true and right in ex- 
ternal authority, let us for the present follow that form 
of apologetic which the times demand, and which there- 
fore we believe God's providence prescribes. That 
apologetic must more than ever recognise and stand 
upon the principle that the truth which is going to be 
permanently accepted, which will persist, must be a truth 
which can make good its own claim upon human ex- 
perience and life. We may not have of ourselves been 
able to attain to or discover that truth ; we may have 
been indebted for it to external sources of authority, as 
the revelation of God in Christ, the Scriptures, and the 
Church. But once given us, it must be capable of self- 
verification. It must be true to us because it is true, and 
not because it has been given to us as true. We must 
be able to say of it that independently of any ground of 
external authority for it it is true in itself. God Himself 
and the Scriptures have laid down that principle of final 
and complete verification: If a man will do the truth, 
he shall know that it is the truth ; — that is said only 
of what is so true in itself as to be able to be its own 
proof. 

There is a second principle involved in that first one. 
Every being is made for its truth, as its truth exists for 



380 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHEr's MANUAL 

it ; and each is a criterion or test or measure oi the other. 
If, for example, it be true, as St. Augustine says, that we 
are made for God and God therefore is that for which we 
are made, there is no final and complete verification of 
that fact except in the actual experience of it ; except, 
that is, in the realisation and experience of the relation 
in which God is actually ours and we His. Suppose it 
be true in itself that it is in Christ that the truth is 
realised that we are made for God, that He is ours and, we 
are His, He in us and we in Him, — no external authority 
for it, nothing but the actual being in Christ and the ex- 
perience of all that means, can be the final or complete 
verification of the fact or the truth. Now God Himself 
would not have us stop short of that final and only real 
proof. He Himself will withdraw from us all other as- 
surances and dependences and throw us only upon that. 
He will say to us : Do the truth, live the truth, and you 
shall know it. You will see that this is primarily a proof 
to ourselves alone. But a very fruitful consequence fol- 
lows from it : It is only those who know themselves 
who can make others know ; the apologetic which will 
first convince ourselves will be the best with which to 
convince others. Let us make Christianity a presence 
and a power in the world in ourselves, and we make it 
so far beyond ourselves. 

Man is made for his own truth, and his truth exists for 
him ; how shall we bring these two together that they 
may mutually interpret and establish each other ? Can 
we so present Christianity to the open mind of men as 
that it shall be its own sufficient proof to them ? Can we 
make them see as we see, that it is God's own eternal 
meaning and truth and purpose of themselves, and that 
they can find and realise themselves only in it ? To the 
mind that is not open and receptive, of course no proof 
will be sufficient. Even our Lord could not ensure that 
all minds should be open to Himself ; but He did assure 
them that, if any were so, the truth was sufficient in it- 



CHRISTIAN DEFENSfe 38 1 

self to satisfy and convince them. He assumed that that 
was to be the real test and evidence of truth. He claimed 
the right to be believed and accepted for Himself, for 
what their own minds and hearts, if they were open, 
could and would s^e and hear and know Him to be. 
Only secondarily did He ever appeal to any external at- 
testation to Him even from God Himself. He would 
have men find themselves in Him simply because He was 
to them the way, the truth, and the hfe of themselves. 
We must endeavour to reveal Him as He would reveal 
Himself, and give Him the higher opportunity to be His 
own sufficient proof rather than adduce for Him only the 
inferior proofs. 

The definition of religion. — Given the fact of religion, 
and a fair chance to know it for what it is, I believe that 
no open human mind will resist or reject the claim of 
Jesus Christ to be its adequate or complete expression. 
To measure the truth of this statement, it is necessary 
first to define to ourselves the meaning of religion, to 
determine clearly what must of necessity be the aim and 
end of religion. The function of religion is to solve, not 
only theoretically but practically or actually, the problem 
or mystery of man's nature, life, destiny. ReHgion will 
have accomplished its task when man shall have attained 
his end. Human completion or perfection, nothing less, 
in all the meaning and truth of the thing, must be its eternal 
goal. Now it is just this which, first of all, Christianity 
sees in Jesus Christ — humanity perfected and completed, 
after its kind, along the true line of its higher nature. It 
is the nature of man to be more than nature, to have had 
a higher origin and to have a higher destiny than belong 
to his only natural life, because the purpose of God, 
therefore also the nature of man, predestines him from 
the beginning to the final full realisation of a Divine son- 
ship which we see first humanly attained and revealed in 
the person of Jesus Christ as the head of humanity. 
Sonship, in its highest and proper meaning, is not a mere 



382 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER's MANUAL 

fact of nature; it is an act of personality. It is not 
enough that it be physically generated ; it has to be per- 
sonally apprehended and freely exercised and realised. 
We do not simply be sons ; we have got to become or 
make ourselves sons. Sonship like every other properly 
human relation is such, or becomes such, only as it is 
j^^-realised and j^^-exercised. It is the free, personal 
self-activity of sonship, and not the mere natural basis of 
it or constitution for it, that is the essence and the real 
meaning of it. Thus nature constitutes us to become, in 
a sense even more real than any earthly relation, sons of 
God. There is of course a natural basis for this relation- 
ship, for otherwise it could not arise. There must be a 
true sense in which we are already by nature sons of 
God. " Finite spirits are not products of nature but 
children of God." I cannot find, however, that this 
natural sonship, as a mere fact of nature, is anything more 
than a mere capacity or potentiality of becoming, in the 
actual and true sense, sons of God. St. Paul says that 
we are predestined unto sonship through Jesus Christ ; 
that is, that Jesus Christ is not only the actualisation and 
manifestation to us of the divine destiny potential in our 
higher God-related nature, but is the medium of impart- 
ing to us that higher destiny through our union with Him 
in faith. What God predestinated us to become, what 
our nature constitutes or capacitates us to become, that 
Jesus Christ enables us to become, and it is just our eternal 
spiritual task in Hfe, in union and communion with Him, 
to become. 

It is now apparent that our answer for Christianity is 
not to be a refutation of arguments against it, nor yet a 
production of arguments for it. It is not to deal with 
proofs or disproofs, but only so to let it appear itself that 
it may be able to prove itself its own best proof. Spirit- 
ual things for the spiritual man, and the spiritual man for 
spiritual things. Each is the best test of the other, and 
each will best prove itself to the other. I said that Jesus 



CHRISTIAN DEFENSE 383 

Christ is first human completion or perfection. And He 
is so first in Himself, and then, secondly, in us through 
the grace and power that come to us by our union with 
Him. Christ is our High Priest, who mediates between 
God and us to the end of effecting our union with God. 
He stands for men in things pertaining to God, in that 
He has fully reahzed in Himself the whole truth of us 
and perfectly represented and presented it to God. He 
is the beginning of the consummation in the end of the 
Divine sonship to which God and our nature predestinated 
us in the beginning. Having been Himself humanly 
perfected in the way in which we need to be perfected. 
He becomes not merely the outward revelation and re- 
vealer, but the inward power and author of the self-same 
perfection and eternal salvation in us. The New Testa- 
ment is all the story of how our Lord before us, the 
author, leader, captain, forerunner, of our salvation, was 
Himself first perfected by the things He suffered, was 
Himself glorified by His victory over all the conditions 
and experiences of human life. Himself accomplished the 
perfect human sonship to God through a life and death 
of entire love, service and sacrifice ; — and then, this ac- 
complished for us, how He proceeds to accomplish it all 
in us ; how, through the quickening, transforming and 
new-creating power of His Spirit acting through our 
faith. He works in us all that He wrought and becomes 
in us all that He was and is in Himself. Already, as St. 
Paul says, we see ourselves by faith completed in Him 
who is our Head. To know ourselves so now in faith, 
will be to know ourselves so in the end in fact. For the 
faith of Jesus Christ has the power not only to realise 
future fruition in present hope but to fulfill present hope 
in future fruition. 

Religion completed in Christ. — A larger and longer 
vision has enabled Christianity to see in Jesus Christ not 
only the end and completion of humanity, but the end 
and completion of all creation, so far as creation comes 



3^4 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER's MANUAL 

within our experience and knowledge. It is a scientific 
fact that man is the end or head of natural creation, or 
of what we now call evolution. It is no mere stretch 
of scientific imagination to claim that evolution, having 
already passed from the mere physical stage to the 
psychical, is destined to pass, and is passing, from the 
mere psychical to the spiritual. The further evolution 
of nature is the evolution of man, and the further evolu- 
tion of man is to be along the line of his spiritual faculties 
and powers. To know nature through the senses is not 
the final act or attainment of man ; it is to know God 
through the spirit — the spirit of man which relates him to 
God, as his senses relate him to nature. Adam is the 
expression to us of our psychical or natural manhood ; 
Jesus Christ is the truth to us of our spiritual, God-related, 
Divine manhood, our predestined sonship to God. As 
humanity psychically or naturally culminated in Adam, 
or man as he is in himself or in nature, so humanity 
will spiritually culminate in Christ, or man as he will be 
in God. Jesus Christ, as He is the immediate end or goal 
of man, is more remotely the end or goal, and so 
the completion or fulfillment, of the whole creation which 
naturally terminates and comes to its natural end in man. 
So Jesus Christ becomes to us the naturally as well as 
supernaturally predestinated and constituted end and 
meaning of the whole creation. As nature ends in man, 
so man ends in Christ, and through Christ in God. But 
it will be no blasphemy to go yet further and say that, 
in a very real though limited and relative sense, not only 
the creation, natural and spiritual, but God Himself, finds 
His end and fulfillment in Jesus Christ. What we mean 
is this: that if it is God's purpose to fulfill Himself in 
creation, then it is in Jesus Christ, and Him alone, that 
He finds or accompHshes that self-fulfillment. For the 
Christ of Christianity is nothing to us if He is not God 
revealed to us as fulfilled in humanity and so in the 
creation which comes to its end and meaning in human- 



CHRISTIAN DEFENSE 385 

ity. God is indeed all that He is in Himself, eternally 
and absolutely. But without Himself, as self-fulfilled 
in His creatures, He is all Himself, all Father, all Love, 
all God, only in Jesus Christ. How otherwise can we 
define religion than as that in which God, nature, and 
man are finally at one, each perfect in all and all in each ? 
And where else or how else can this be found than in 
Jesus Christ ? 

So soon as we have conceived Christianity as comple- 
tion, and more particularly as human completion, of 
necessity there arises another conception beside it and 
inseparable from it. Perfection for man, or completion, 
is not a simple straight unfolding from less to more, from 
beginning to end. From the very first it needs to be 
not only a growth in good but a cure from ill. Human 
life is always as much a preservation from evil as a con- 
servation in good. We need not waste words about the 
existence and prevalence of evil, in every sphere and at 
every point of our earthly life. Even as only an idea 
or an illusion, yet as such or whatever it be, it is always 
with us and always evil, and therefore always something 
from which to be saved. Deliverance, redemption, 
salvation, word and thing, are inseparable from human 
experience, and therefore inseparable from the function 
of human religion. 

Christ the power of God unto salvation. — Now Jesus 
Christ, and He alone, reveals to us the true meaning, 
the true way, and, in Himself, the true accomplishment 
or attainment of redemption or salvation. To begin 
with, there is no possible salvation from evil except 
through personal conquest of it. It is here to be met 
and overcome, and the meeting and overcoming it is not 
only the condition of our redemption but no less the 
instrument and means of our completion or perfection. 
For there is no other way for us to grow in good than 
through meeting and overcoming and surviving evil. 
Jesus Christ is human good or goodness, human holi- 



386 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER's MANUAL 

ness, righteousness, life — only because He was the 
human conqueror and conquest of sin. There is no 
otherwise in which He could have become so. He 
wrought for us human redemption in the one only pos- 
sible way in which it could be wrought. He did it by 
being human Himself, and in His humanity overcoming, 
destroying and abolishing sin in the only way in which 
sin can be abolished — by a faith, a hope, a love, a holi- 
ness, a righteousness, a life, superior to and victorious 
over sin. Jesus Christ came not to save us from the 
necessity of ourselves overcoming and abolishing sin ; 
He came to save us by revealing and imparting to us the 
grace and the power of ourselves overcoming and abolish- 
ing sin. He showed us how to do it Himself; He en- 
ables us to do it ourselves. We see in Him the power 
of God unto salvation, that is, unto holiness, righteous- 
ness, life. That power in Him is God's power in us, 
made ours by God's grace and our faith, which means by 
God's gift and our acceptance. If we believe that ; that 
is to say, if we beHeve God, then — everything to the con- 
trary notwithstanding — we already see and know our- 
selves in Christ saved and free from sin. The hope 
anticipates the reality ; the reality will justify and realise 
the hope. For God so surely makes things what they 
are by His word, that His word already calls things that 
are not yet as though they already were. 

The Cross of Christ a thing inseparable from human 
redemption. — It means that by which we die to sin and 
live to God ; and it is only by our own dying to sin and 
living to God that we can be redeemed or saved. Good or 
evil is all within ourselves. There is no real or essential 
good or evil but the good or evil will, the good or evil per- 
son. There is no good or evil thing ; to the good will or 
person all things will be good. Make man good, and the 
earth will cease to be evil ; abolish sin, which is personal, 
and all so-called natural evil will be converted into pure 
good. Therefore the only real redemption or salvation 



CHRISTIAN DEFENSE 387 

for US is to be changed, transformed, new created ourselves. 
And only ourselves, our own will and personal action, 
can change ourselves. We cannot change ourselves, 
it is true, without union and cooperation with God ; 
but neither can God change us except through our own 
will and act in changing ourselves. You cannot sever 
or distinguish us from our own will or action. What 
we see in Jesus Christ is humanity redeemed, saved, 
made holy, living the life of God. All this is of course 
the will and action of God in it. Yes, but it is the will 
and action of God become^ and now inseparable and in- 
distinguishable from, its own will and action. The cross 
of Christ is not a thing only ; it is a will and an act. In 
the first instance, that is, in our Lord Himself, it was the 
will and the act which was in itself human salvation, the 
will and the act in which humanity at-one-d itself with 
God, redeemed itself from sin, raised itself from death. 
The cross of Christ is man's perfect attitude toward sin 
and holiness, acted out to its perfect end or limit ; the 
resistance unto blood, the obedience unto death, the love 
that lays down its life. The cross was not for our Lord 
alone. It was for Him only because it is the only thing 
for us. We are already saved, in faith or in hope ; for 
we see our salvation accomplished and provided in 
Christ. But salvation in faith is only the provision and 
the condition of our salvation in fact. And we shall be 
saved in fact only as we drink His cup and are baptised 
with His baptism ; only in the fellowship and power of 
His cross ; only when we have repented unto the death 
to sin and have beHeved unto the Hfe in God and the life 
of God. As there is no religion for us without redemp- 
tion, so there is no redemption for us but by the cross of 
Christ. It alone is the attitude toward sin which saves 
from it ; it alone is the attitude toward holiness which at- 
tains it ; it alone is the attitude toward God which brings us 
to Him. Put to death in the flesh and quickened, made 
alive, m the spirit, is the only formula of human salvation. 



388 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER's MANUAL 

The Atonement There is another word and thing, 

equally inseparable from any possible conception of relig- 
ion. It is the word and the thing Atonement. The 
word originally is and means at-one-ment, reconciliation. 
The thing itself can never get above or beyond that 
meaning. What can go beyond at-one-ment with God ? 
What short of that will express or fulfill the meaning or 
end of religion ? There has never been a fundamental 
ethics, much less religion, which did not begin with the 
necessity of at-one-ment — wath ourselves, with things, 
with our neighbour, with God, or with all. The end of 
the Greek ethics was to be at one with ourselves. Unity, 
harmony, proportion, symmetry, of body, mind, charac- 
ter, life — that is for us truth, beauty, goodness, happiness. 
We are not at one, at peace, in harmony, with ourselves ; 
our fundamental need is at-one-ment. The end of He- 
brew moral and rehgious thought and life was at-one- 
ment with the Law, which is God's, which is God, — the 
law of righteousness. Oneness with that is our only 
truth, good or goodness, life, blessedness. We are not at 
one with that eternal and universal law of God ; and at- 
one-ment with it is our one infinite necessity. The end 
of Christ and of Christianity is oneness not with our- 
selves only, though that also ; nor yet with human or 
divine law only, yet that too of necessity in the end. It 
is oneness with God Himself; — nothing less than that is 
truth or beauty or goodness or life or blessedness or man. 
We are not at one with God ; oneness with God is our 
one completion or perfection ; at-one-ment with God is 
our one necessity. We can make ourselves at one with 
God only as God first makes Himself at one with us. For 
Himself He has done this in Christ. His part is consum- 
mated and complete. For our part. He can make Him- 
self at one with us even in Christ only through our own 
will and act making ourselves one with Him in Christ. 
As with Christ as one of us, so with us as one with 
Christ, the only will and act of at-one-ment with God is 



CURlcSTIAN DEFENSE 389 

that of the cross, the death to sin and new Hfe to 
God. 

The Incarnation. — The above conceptions involve and 
cannot stop short of another, which includes them all, 
and is no less than they inseparable from the completed 
notion or fact of religion. It is, word and thing, what we 
call the Incarnation. Christianity is everything to us 
Christians, or else it is nothing ; it is the whole truth of 
God in the world and in ourselves. It is a unique enough, 
and universal enough, and great enough incident or event 
in the eternal history or evolution of the universe to have 
been introduced or consummated in the world by any 
mystery or natural impossibility of virgin birth or bodily 
resurrection that our Scriptures record. When the 
naive and natural response of the maiden faith to which 
it was first addressed could be no more than, How can 
these things be? — the answer from above was, With God 
no word shall be impossible. Without attempt to explain 
the possibility or the mode of the facts which we call 
virgin birth and resurrection, we simply know these two 
things : The Hfe which was Christ and is Christianity was 
born of God, and in, not of, humanity or man. It was 
begotten of God, its Father ; and only conceived and 
born of humanity, its mother. All spiritual or Divine 
life is ^God in us ; that is the meaning of regeneration, 
and Christianity is a regeneration, a birth from without 
ourselves, from above, a birth of God in man, and so of a 
new life of man in God. That is the first great thing in 
Christianity that we know ; and the second is this : That 
the mystery or natural impossibility which we express in 
the term resurrection is not too much or too great to be 
predicated of humanity as the result of the birth and life 
of God in it. 

The highest proof. — Let us try in a word to sum up 
the whole matter. True religion is God's truth of us ; 
consequently we are the best test and proof of it, as it is 
of us. We may never have discovered it, but we are the 



390 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHERS MANUAL 

best and only final judges of it when it has been discov- 
ered to us. Its proof consists in its perfect correspond- 
ence with ourselves, as our judgment will turn, and our 
truth to ourselves be measured, by our correspondence 
with it. The function of religion is not merely a right 
theory but an actual fulfillment of the meaning and end 
of human life. We were distinctly forewarned at the be- 
ginning that nothing will verify the truth of rehgion but 
actual experiment or experience of it. We must live it 
in order to know it. So long as we are not applying 
this only direct and real test, no amount of learning or 
skill expended in the study of external evidences will 
satisfy or settle our minds. How shall we apply the one 
only test or proof as a general apologetic? We cannot, 
as has been said, ensure minds open to the truth, even of 
themselves ; but we shall go a great way if we bend all 
our efforts to so presenting and commending the truth to 
the mind as that it may best reveal itself and be its own 
proof. Let men see and know what religion really is, 
and how truly and exactly our Christianity is it, — and 
Christianity will better prove and commend itself, than it 
will by all other methods combined. 

This is of course a practical rather than a theoretic or 
scientific apologetic, but it may be the latter also in the 
very best sense. There is the highest science as well as 
art in bringing before men the spiritual truth of them- 
selves, in making them feel and know their deepest need 
of self-realisation or completion, of redemption, of one- 
ness with God, of the cross of Christ, of eternal life. 
There is the truest science in bringing men to know both 
theoretically and practically that in the selfless love, 
service, and sacrifice for others we most truly find and 
fulfill ourself. It is the last reach of spiritual science to 
learn how all these and all other truths meet and unite 
and come to their fulfillment only in the truth of truths, the 
end of ends, the fact of the Incarnation, the self-realisation 
of God in His creation, of the whole creation in God. 



CHRISTIAN DEFENSE 39 1 

A List of Books for Reference and Study 

Evidences of Christianity. Ragg. Oxford Church Text Books. 

Gorham Net ^ .35 

A Manual of Christian Evidences. Row. Whittaker ..." .75 
Studies in the Christian Evidences. Mair. T. & T. Clark. Edin- 

burgh 6/ 

Christus Auctor. Candler. Baker & Taylor 1.25 

Scientific Aspects of Christian Evidences. Wright. Appleton , . 1.50 
The Grounds of Theistic and Christian Belief. Second edition. 

Fisher. Scribner 2.50 

Pro Fide. Harris. Button Net 3.00 

Defense of the Christian Faith. Godet. Scribner « 1.25 

Outlines of Christian Apologetics. Schultz. Translated by Alfred 

B. Nichols 

Studies in the Character of Christ. Robinson. Longmans . . . 1.25 

The Christian Doctrine of Prayer. Hall. Longmans. . . .Net l.io 

The Divine Ordinance of Prayer. Aitkin. Dutton « 1. 25 

The Hope of Immortality. Welldon. Macmillan " 1.50 



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